


Monster Hunter Academia

by luxrva



Category: Little Witch Academia, Monster Hunter (Video Games)
Genre: Diakko, Don't worry, F/F, Monster Hunter AU, NO DEATHS, Non-magic, Slow Burn, a little torture, amandaxwangari brotp, but not graphic?, enemies/rivals to friends to lovers, eventual smut probably, maybe some violence, they all fight monsters, you know me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2019-10-05 06:22:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 29,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17319635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luxrva/pseuds/luxrva
Summary: Akko Kagari has always wanted one thing: to become an A-List Monster Hunter for the Research Commission.  So when the Commission expands its reach into the New World and calls for the recruitment of new Hunters, Akko is determined to make her dream of a life of excitement and danger come true.  Only, there's one minor issue... she's not that great at it. But she's determined to become better than her rival, Diana Cavendish, and to become one of the best Hunters that the new village of Luna Nova has ever seen.Crossover with Monster Hunter (specifically Monster Hunter World).  Don't play or know what that is?  No worries, this is a Diakko fic more than anything else, just with armor and monsters and a heckin plot for once.





	1. Natural Selection

 

Atsuko Kagari watched the fight taking place before her with both admiration and jealousy.

The blonde girl looked like a lithe dancer as she spun in the air, lean legs twisting gracefully as her torso spiraled with her body and her arms swung in a wide arc across her chest. The blunt wooden blade of the longsword in her hands hissed through the air, slicing effortlessly across the broad but bony chest of the Kulu-Ya-Ku with a loud thud. The bird wyvern stumbled backwards, grunting with surprise at the powerful blow, and wobbled on its legs. It stepped back in retreat and bowed with an open yellow beak that was filled with nothing but darkness.

“Beautiful, Cavendish. You may return to the ranks,” Admiral Croix called from where she stood across the arena, arms folded firmly across her chest. Her expression was unreadable, but her voice hinted the respect that she held for the tall blonde and her ability to wield a longsword in combat.

And Akko couldn’t argue. As she watched the other girl, lean with hard muscle from years of conditioning, she was in awe of the level of decorum and poise that she had. The monster hadn’t hit her _once_ in the single minute and a half it had taken for her to claim victory. Everyone else had taken at least four minutes and multiple hits. That was fine, though. Akko had trained, too. She would most _definitely_ beat that record. Easy! Pretty girl would certainly find herself among capable competition. She readied herself, jaw tensing with resolve as she kept her gaze locked straight ahead and waited. The blades, slick from Akko’s sweating hands, fell to her sides as she stood rigid at attention.

Her eyes strayed, tugging at the confines of her sockets without moving her head. She watched as Cavendish strode back to the formation, not a drop of sweat on her. In fact, she looked just the same as she had earlier when she’d stepped out of the armory with the wooden longsword slung across her back, her skin pale smooth and taut beneath the leather armor that fit her tall frame perfectly. Long, wavy blonde hair with tea-green highlights was pulled back into a loose ponytail and dangled between rippling shoulder muscles.

“Kagari. You’re up.”

“Eh?”

She'd forgotten where she was.

The shorter girl next to her huffed in irritation, the bowgun in her hands clacking against her belt buckle as she rotated it against her hips.

“ _Kagari_ ,” the Admiral repeated more sternly.

“Er… sorry!” Akko blurted. She flushed as she stepped backwards out of the formation, forgetting she was in the front rank and bumping against the redheaded girl behind her who loudly whispered, “Oi, watch it, idiot!” Her blush deepened and she scampered away from the other seven potentials.

She walked to the center of the arena, red eyes leveling on the Kulu-Ya-Ku that stood in wait, her much-too-large borrowed armor chafing against her skin. The feathers of the bird-resembling reptile fluttered atop its head in the warm breeze, reflecting a shimmering amber and crimson with the high, bright sun. Akko could already feel herself sweating from both the heat and the anxiety.

“Nothing but a big chicken,” Akko accidentally said out loud. “Easy day.”

She could hear the rattling chuckle that came from where the Commander and Admiral stood. The Luna Nova Commander, the fire-haired Chariot du Nord, stood with her hands hooked around her glistening golden waist belt, quietly regarding the potential with curiosity. Admiral Croix, on the other hand, seemed like she wanted absolutely nothing to do with any of them. Save for Cavendish, maybe. She seemed to like pretty girl.

The lilac-haired officer tapped the toe of her boot against the sand and regarded her stopwatch. “Time starts now, Kagari.”

Time. That meant…

The Kulu-Ya-Ku stepped forward.

 _Agh!_ Time!

This was the moment Akko had practiced for her entire life. The most _important_ moment. She had always wanted to be a Hunter. It was her dream to be like the iconic Commander, who was one of the first A-Listers to land in the New World and fight against the elder dragons for Astera and the Research Commission. As she was growing up, she remembered admiring the red-haired woman, agile and strong and confident in her sparkling armor. Chariot had come from a family much like her own, from parents who were nothing more than workers in the Old World, and taken the elite profession of a Hunter by storm with her skill and prowess. And the woman next to her, Admiral Croix, second-in-command of Luna Nova, was one of the most highly regarded researchers of their time. The two had worked side-by-side ever since the discovery of the New World, an incomparable duo of athleticism and intelligence.

Akko came from a background of merchants. Her parents ran a pawn shop for gems in the Old World, peddling only a little more than they needed to eat, and so she had grown up in a world of bartering and the false bravado of quick sales and bargain hunting. It was expected for her to work in the shop when she’d gotten older, but Akko had other plans, much to her parents’ dismay. She wanted to be the like the Hunters that she would see training for the colonization of the New World. She wanted to go to Astera, to visit the beautiful wilderness that she had only seen in posters and promotional videos. She wanted a life of exploration, a life of fun, a life of danger. And none of that would come from a lame old gem shop in the near-slums at the edge of Osaka.

So she trained. With sticks, with brooms, with anything that could be used as a weapon that she found in her home and later broke to her family’s vehement disapproval. She conquered wicker baskets, her father’s brand new empty gem display (she’d gotten in a _lot_ of trouble for that), even her mother’s laundry as it hung to dry on the line. And, though they had asked her not to many times and had tried anything to get her to back away from the dangerous profession that was hunting monsters, she had signed up to have her chance at making one the teams on the Research Commission as soon as she turned the minimum age of 21. And as it so happened, the second village—Luna Nova—was in the process of being established by none other than the newly appointed Commander, Chariot du Nord and her Admiral, Croix Meridies. An emulation of Astera, which lay between the ravines of the great desert of the Wildspire Waste, Luna Nova was a brand new colony that had barely gotten a foothold in the New World. And it needed Hunters. It needed Akko.

And the lame chicken in front of her was all that stood between her and that dream. This was where the self-starting Atsuko Kagari showed everybody just what she could do with whatever she had at hand. Where she showed everybody just what she was worth. This was where she became a Hunter!

Except… she had never used a _real_ weapon before. Not that these were real—they were wooden training weapons—but they _resembled_ real daggers and were a far cry from the jagged sticks and tennis rackets of her youth.

The wooden blades felt heavy and foreign in Akko’s hands as she lunged forward and swiped one at the Kulu-Ya-Ku as it stood, tall and stupid looking, in front of her. The monster stepped calmly out of the way, staring at her inquisitively with the slight tilt of its large, bird-like head. It moved to the side again to avoid another haphazard and off-kilter blow that Akko followed with her other hand. Slash after jab after desperate blow and the big scaly chicken seemed completely unaffected every single time.

She was panting from the effort already, her chest heaving for air. She was athletic, to be sure, but this was an entirely different demand on her body. Cavendish and the rest of the potentials had made it look so easy, and the former so effortless. Maybe the Commander and Admiral would see just how tenacious she was and value her high above the others. After all, a Hunter needed grit, determination. Both of which Akko had plenty of.

Akko felt her face reddening from both frustration and exhaustion. Sweat was streaking down her dust-coated face, brunette hair clinging to her forehead and temples. The thick cloud of dust that rose with every movement dried her tongue and mouth. She dashed forward, lifting off with one foot and pirouetting through the air as both blades arced down in sync, closing in on the bird wyvern’s wide chest. A good move, one that would _definitely_ hit its target.

She missed completely.

The Kulu-Ya-Ku spun with the miscalculation, slamming a heavy tail into Akko’s waist just as she was coming down from her leap. She grunted with surprise, flying backwards and skidding through the dirt, rocks scraping against her bare legs and drawing blood. Her too-large leather greaves pressed rivets into her skin as the ground pushed the hard, jagged edges of the poorly sewn material against her. She clambered to her feet, awkward and slowly and with far more effort than she wanted to show, as the Kulu-Ya-Ku stared her down through glistening black eyes.

That was it. She’d had it. It was time to show this stupid bird exactly who it was messing with.

Akko threw herself forward with a bellowing cry, abandoning all poise and technique (not that she had any) and leaping at the bird with a fury of blows. It swiped at her, missed as she swung to the right, and she vaulted onto its back with a heavy grunt of effort. She lifted the daggers in her hand and started pounding at the monster’s head with the end of the shafts, the blades sticking uselessly into the air as she rained blow after blow with determined shrieks while wheezing, “Take that!” and, “How’s that feel?” and, “Stupid chicken!”

The monster started yelling underneath her. A muffled, masculine voice bellowed from the beak. “Stop it! Gerroffme!”

She pounded away until she conked herself in the forehead with the tip of one wooden dagger and tumbled backwards, rolling off the Kulu’s back and hitting the sand with a heavy grunt. She dropped the daggers to the ground and seized her forehead with one palm, moaning with the exploding ache. The corners of her vision blurred. That was gonna leave a mark.

“Kagari! Enough! Get back into formation!”

“One sec,” she muttered, holding up a finger. She was disoriented as she gathered the blades and scrambled back to her feet, bending over herself as she panted for air.

“ _Kagari! Now!_ ”

“Alright, alright!”

She stumbled back to the others, slamming into the redhead once again to a, “Fucking hell, idiot!” and straightening herself back up into the best attention she could muster. Hot sweat poured down her temples and back and sand crept, dry and gritty, into her mouth. She wheezed through her nose in heavy pants as she struggled to keep her upper body upright. Her head throbbed.

The Kulu-Ya-Ku ripped its head off and threw it to the ground. The tall Field Team Leader stood in the middle of the training circle, poised and handsome inside the body of a chicken, as he panted and stared at the jagged formation of eight potential Hunters that lined the side of the arena. His once slicked brown hair was mussed and dripping wet with sweat, his forehead damp and glistening. He looked exhausted as he pulled an arm out from the suit and rubbed at the back of his head with a scowl in Akko’s direction. Akko pursed her lips and looked away innocently.

“Are you alright, Andrew?” Akko heard Commander Chariot ask. Her voice was soft and kind.

“Yes, Commander,” he muttered, still glowering at Akko as he snatched the head from the ground and moved off to the side of the arena to start stripping out of the Kulu hide.

The Admiral cleared her throat, glancing between the Commander and Field Team Leader before speaking. “As I call your name, I would like you to step forward.”

Akko looked away from Field Team Leader Hanbridge and faced the front again, struggling to hold back a smile. This was it! This was her moment, her time to be selected as one of the brand new Luna Nova hunters. She regulated her breath and stood even straighter, grinning at the lilac-haired researcher as she strode to the front of the formation.

“Diana Cavendish.”

The blonde girl stepped delicately back from her position and strode forward with long, confident strides, following the pointing finger of Admiral Croix to about-face and take a rigid poise before the others.

“Amanda O’Neill.”

The redhead behind Akko fell out, the massive wooden Great Sword on her back slamming into Akko’s rear and making her stumble forward, and joined the blonde.

Akko took a deep breath, eyeing the two taller girls, assessing them as she shuffled her heels back together. These were going to be her two new teammates, the people that she would explore the New World with.

“Frank Watson.” The Admiral lifted her teal eyes and scanned the six hunters. A tall blonde guy from the back stepped around Akko, a goofy smile stretched across his face as he loped over to the girls and stood next to them. Frank. He seemed nice. Akko had spoken with him on the ship ride to the New World when she wasn’t puking off the side of the boat. Which… wasn’t often.

But this was it! Her time to shine. She was next! Her display of determination and rallying strength surely earned her a spot on the team. She just hoped she didn’t trip.

“Wangari Ironsi.”

She tripped forward.

Wait.

That wasn’t her name.

“Whaddyamean?” Akko heard herself whine, twisting her head to stare at the Admiral with a cocked head as the final hunter, a dark-skinned girl with flaming orange hair and a glowing kinsect buzzing around her head, flashed a bright grin and assumed her place beside Frank.

“Kagari, if you don’t step back in that formation and shut the hell up right now, I swear to Kulve’s left horn I will—”

“ _Croix_ ,” the Commander hissed. Her hand shot out to grab the researcher’s arm and she squeezed.

Admiral Croix pinched the bridge of her nose and continued. “Lotte Yansson.” She pointed to the four potentials--now Hunters, really—that stood to her right. “Handler. Sucy Manbavaran, Researcher.”

Two girls—once short with messy strawberry blonde hair and glasses, one taller and sneering with perfectly straight lavender hair—strode together from a small group to the side and stood beside the four.

“Jasminka Antonenko.”

A broad, powerful girl to the side of the formation moved forward. A massive hammer dangled loose in her grasp, held as though it was feather light even though Akko knew it wasn’t (because she had tried to pick it up and dropped it on her foot and then shouted curses while everyone stared at her), which she had smashed so hard into the Kulu-Ya-Ku’s side he had gone flying across the arena.

The Admiral was pointing to the other side of her. Antonenko whirled and stood.

“Constanze Amalie von Brau—von Brau—forget it, German girl. Shortstop with the gun. Get over here.”

The bowgun next to Akko clicked as the tiny girl pumped it once and strode to the larger girl’s side, in strides much longer than should be possible for such a small person, and froze, expressionless. She looked innocent and sweet, but she had literally just assailed Andrew with a stream of pellets while he’d batted them away and ran in circles. She had cackled the entire time.

“Avery Graham.”

The final girl standing next to Akko stepped forward, shoving her dual blades into the aged leather sheaths on her belt. Akko had to admit, she was pretty good with them. She was fast and knew exactly what moves were most effective, almost as though she’d practiced with them. And… well, she probably had. The closest thing Akko’d ever had to dual blades was chopsticks.

“Atsuko Kagari.”

Akko’s name mumbled from the Admiral’s lips with distaste as the older woman leveled her with a sigh. “Only because you’re literally the last option we’ve got,” she added with a grunt.

Akko grinned nonetheless and lurched forward.

She tripped again. Who put that rock there?

Admiral Croix let out another heavy sigh and lowered her head. Beside her, Commander Chariot giggled behind her palm. Akko flushed and rushed to the purple-haired girl’s side, trying an about-face and instead tripping over her own feet again. She straightened up and stood as straight and quiet as she could.

“Hannah England, Handler.” Croix pointed at the last two girls who had been standing off to the side and crooked her finger. “Barbara Parker, Researcher.”

The two girls, who had giggled loudly at Akko the previous night when she had dropped her whole tray of food on the ground in the mess hall (only to get chewed out by the Chef for “wasting the meal he'd prepared, which was only slightly slightly spoiled meat”) walked over together. They regarded Akko with a frown, casting each other unreadable glances, before sidling up next to the group.

Admiral Croix took a long step forward and whirled on her heels to face the two new teams. Commander Chariot remained where she was, at ease between the groups, and watched her partner. She gave a small nod.

“A-Listers.” She stood straight, only her head turning to scan the faces of each team as she spoke. “Cavendish, Squad Leader. B-Listers.” Her gaze turned, fell on the taller girl to Akko’s far right. “Antonenko, Squad Leader.”

 _B-Lister?_ That meant she wasn’t going to get to do _anything_ fun! She’d be out farming Kestodon for leather and meat while the A-Listers got to go live a fun life of danger and go on all the expeditions and get all the recognition! She hadn’t shredded her mother’s favorite kimono and gotten grounded for a week to be a _B-Lister!_ She hadn’t torn holes in all her clothing and smashed through the China cabinet and broken half the plates and most of the glasses with the end of a Swiffer for _B-Lister!_ B was for back-up, B was for boring, B for—

“Bullshit!” Akko blurted out before her mind even wrapped around the impact of the word and she could force it back.

The Admiral’s face hardened as she turned and stared at Akko. The Commander, too, looked pretty upset as she whirled to face the B-Listers. Akko felt her cheeks burning. Her eyes widened as she slammed her lips closed with a squeak. The purple-haired girl with the dual blades let out a grunt that was something between a laugh and a groan.

She didn’t even have to hear Admiral Croix yell, “Get on the ground!” because she was already down, pumping her arms up and down as she pounded out push-ups while the rest of her own team and the A-Listers watched. The sand rose in a cloud of dust and stung into her mouth and nostrils as she stared straight ahead, red eyes blank. The oversized armor pinched into her damp skin with every move.

Okay, so she wasn’t the _best_ with the daggers, but she had tried! And who else had landed a successful mount? Well, besides the girl with the crazy orange hair, but she was using an insect glaive and it was _expected_.

A whisper of, “Bullshit,” panted out with every shallow breath between reps.

Apparently, push-ups until her arms fell off (not literally, they were still there, somehow) was not enough to appease the Admiral for speaking out… okay, multiple times… in formation. The last bit had most certainly done her in, but how were they going to assign out teams after a single assessment? Well, there had been all the physical team-based stuff during the week, and Akko _had_ maybe caused a little bit of mass destruction at the vine rope when she swung off way too early and crashed the whole formation into a mud pit in the Wastes. And she also had kind of lit a whole lot of dry brush on fire when she was trying to make camp and ruined a nest of rare Downy Crake eggs…

But still!

Bullshit!

By the time she’d stumbled out of the arena, drenched in sweat, lips dry and parched and the backs of her heels blistered as she dragged her feet through the sand, it was long past dark. Akko had done suicides until her legs fell off (not literally, they were still there, somehow) and mountain-climbers around the arena until Admiral Croix had decided she was tired of watching her flounder around and gone off to do something else. The rest of her own team and the A-Listers were likely already in the mess hall, probably comfortable after changing out of their armor and showering in the barracks. It was so late that Akko would either be forced to eat and go to bed filthy, or shower and go to bed hungry.

She picked the former. If she was going to be on the bullshit team, she might as well smell like it, too.

* * *

 

Luna Nova was ugly.

That had been Akko’s first thought when the caravan had reached the new village and it was her current thought as she trudged along with the rest of the Hunters on their first official tour.

She had seen Astera. It was where their ship had docked, where Akko’s quivering sea legs had finally met ground again and where she’d turned and retched off the side of the harbor and into the shallow blue water for the last time during their journey. The first village of the New World had been gorgeous, like something out of a fairytale. It was built to perfection with carefully carved logs, draped throughout with festive decorations and paper lamps and barrels that still fizzled with fireworks from the recently passed spring festival. Palicoes bustled to and fro in the port city, carting wares and supplies and helping villagers with various tasks. The marketplace had been rife with the calls of merchants desperate for a sale, something that made Akko feel like home, and Hunters strode throughout in glistening armor with polished weapons hung across their backs. Bright green plant life from the forest rose at the outer edges of the village, rising into a blue sky with colorful flowers and waving ferns. Wingdrakes soared through the air above, their wings beating a steady rhythm against the harbor breeze as they carried Hunters or picked up crates of supplies for deliveries to deployed expeditions.

Akko would have liked to stay, but they didn’t. They were there long enough for a single meal, not even to bed down for the night, before they’d clambered into the white canvas caravans that were pulled along by a well-fed group of Apceros. The small monsters had lurched forward beneath the weight of the group and led them through the forest, which Akko couldn’t even see because she had been squeezed up near the front of the carrier, and into the dry, arid climate of the Wildspire Waste.

Luna Nova looked like it had been built with mud and clay. And perhaps it had, because that kind of made sense given the environment. There were very few trees to harvest for logs, of which:

“The researchers hesitate to chop down the trees in this area,” Hanbridge was saying as he guided the new Hunters through the lower level of the small village. “That would threaten endemic life that is native to Wildspire.” He walked backwards as he scanned the faces before him. “Any wood here must be imported from Astera, so you’ll see very little of it.”

“Smells worse than the Rotten Vale,” Akko muttered.

Jasminka—that was Antonenko’s first name, the captain of the B-Listers—side-eyed her. “And when have you ever been to the Rotten Vale?”

“Well… I haven’t,” Akko admitted. She coughed into her hand. “I just figured.”

The buildings that had been erected throughout the village, modest in size and many still under heavy construction, looked like nothing more than ancient pueblos. They were grey and lifeless against the red dirt of the waste, against the crags of earth that rose around the new city that was nestled in one of the larger canyons of Wildspire. Straw and brush had been woven together as makeshift roofs—roofs that leaked water, Akko found out, because it had rained the other night and she woke up getting dripped on—and everything looked half-assed and incomplete. Which she supposed it _was_ , but Akko figured they could have put in a _little_ bit of effort.

The only color came from a bright blue sky that was dotted with fluffy white clouds that drifted slowly overhead, making Akko sleepy. It was still early in the morning and she hadn’t _wanted_ to wake up—she’d gone to bed late because she had been trying to scrape the dirt clods off her hand-me-down armor for inspection—but this place seemed strict on timeliness. A least for new Hunters. She yawned as she walked, trudging along beside Jasminka and staring straight ahead as Hanbridge droned on.

Even though it was early, it was already hot. Very hot. Akko was sweating.

“You’ve seen our armory,” Andrew was saying, nodding to a building that looked exactly like all the others. “You will each have individual lockers to place your armor and weapons. If you need anything constructed, you can drop the supplies off at the blacksmith.” He turned and pointed to the massive, flaming furnace just outside. The fire from within made it even more hot and Akko opened her mouth in a pant. She unhooked her canteen from her side and took a long swig of warm water.

Even Cavendish was sweating. Pristine Cavendish with her perfect hair and the armor that fit perfectly on her perfect body. Her pale skin, slightly flushed from sunburn, was glistening in the bright morning sun. She watched Andrew carefully, big blue eyes focused solely on their speaker. Her hair fell in a low ponytail, swaying against the top of her armor and around the leather straps. Akko watched it as it moved, zoning on the streaks of green and blonde, on the dip of a spine where the top of her short cuirass gave way to bare skin, at the dimples right above her hips.

The sound of steel against steel tugged her attention back to the armory. A massive, muscled man was hammering out a sword, his back turned to the group as he raised his tool above his head and brought it down again and again, his tanned back rippling beneath rivers of sweat. The ringing of metal ceased when he noticed the group standing nearby and he turned, regarding them with a gruff grunt before returning his attention to his work.

“Behind the arrmory and blacksmith is the training yard,” Hanbridge said. He led them around the massive clay building that was the armory and nodded at a small, fenced off enclosure with dummies made from cured monster hide and straw. Many of them were in a poor state already, slashed open by swords and skewered with lances, peppered with holes from arrows and bullets. One Hunter was in there already, dripping sweat as she arced and leapt through the air, her charge blade swinging over her head as she flipped over a dummy and jabbed into it with the skill of a trained professional. “You may use this area all you like to try out weapons or become accustomed to your own. However, we do ask that you use the training weapons provided.” He nodded to a rack of wooden weapons much liked they had used in their Kulu-Ya-Ku trial, though these were clearly heavily used and already falling apart from the numerous hands that had touched them.

Akko watched the training Hunter intently, enthralled by her skill. She was older by a few years and had clearly been in the profession for quite a bit longer. The sinew of hardened muscles rippled beneath the flesh of her colorful armor, obviously made from some foreign monster, and she seemed unwilling to tire despite the heat and the demanding difficulty of her maneuvers. It was like a choreographed dance, far unlike Akko's approach which was, in essence, do whatever she could in whatever way she knew how to land a hit.

“Kagari.” Hanbridge's sharp voice made her turn. “Care to join us?”

The rest of the new Hunters were staring at her from where they'd started to walk off. She flushed and turned, her too-large boots rubbing hard against the blisters on her heels as she jogged over. The blades sheathed in her belt—iron and hastily crafted, as she'd been issued earlier in the week following her assignment to the B-List team--pounded uncomfortably against her hips.

Next was the biology tent, little more than a large canvas enclosure that served as a greenhouse. Researchers milled about, their white coats soaked in sweat as they carefully inspected gathered plants and insects from different provinces of the New World. There were various mushrooms, which the A-List researcher, Manbavaran, inspected with the eye of an expert. Ferns much like those from the Old World, colorful flowers that bloomed beneath glass houses, bright and shimmering beetles that fluttered in a small enclosure of their own. In the very back of the tent was a small, closed off area that Hanbridge explained was the chemistry lab.

“But we can't go in there,” Hanbridge explained, opening his arms as he herded the group back out into the bright sun. “Conditions are volatile and interference could cause a number of different reactions.”

“Are team researchers allowed?” Manbavaran spoke up, her voice drawl and monotone as she leveled their Field Team Leader with one dark red eye. “Considering that we may need to use those resources?”

Cavendish had turned and was studying Manbavaran, her bright blue eyes scanning over the shorter researcher with something akin to curiosity. Akko watched her carefully, trying to assess the neutral expression and the sentiment behind it. Akko stared at her for way longer than she probably should have until those shimmering blue eyes turned on her and she quickly looked at the sky, which was also a very nice shade of blue, indeed.

“Researchers only,” Hanbridge clarified, nodding. He ran a hand through his dark hair, his bicep arching from his arm as he did it, and Barbara, the B-List team researcher audibly sighed. “But only once you complete the safety course. No worries, that will be later this week while the Hunters are having their own introductory courses.”

“Wait,” Akko blurted. “We have to go to _classes_?”

Everyone turned to look at her. Cavendish's eyebrows tilted awkwardly as she stared at Akko as though she'd sprouted two heads. Akko did _not_ like that look. She flushed hard and pursed her lips, but kept her eyes on the taller young Field Team Leader at the head of the group.

“... Yes, Kagari,” Hanbridge said, sighing with exasperation. “We can't just throw you into the New World with no direction whatsoever. It's important to learn the basics of hunting and have some core knowledge of the monsters you'll encounter on expeditions.”

“But we _know_ how to hunt, already,” Akko whined.

“I believe that is highly debatable, particularly in a case such as yours, as I remember earlier last week you required explanation as to what a Brute Wyvern was. Not to mention your display the other day, while... tenacious, would likely have gotten you killed in a real scenario.”

It was the first time she'd ever heard the blonde speak. Her voice was soft but venomous, pompous and arrogant. The girl's chin tilted upwards, eyes narrowing as they ran over Akko's body. Was Cavendish _judging_ her?

Akko huffed. “Excuse me?”

Cavendish said nothing in response. She whirled, her wavy hair swinging against her shoulders. O'Neill and Ironsi were snickering and whispering to each other and Akko most _definitely_ heard her name being used.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Hanbridge cut in. “Let's move--”

But Akko wasn't going to let herself be insulted in front of everyone, _especially_ by some newbie who had never been on a hunt, either. “You may be an A-Lister,” she started, “But I'll be a better Hunter before you are in no time!”

Cavendish didn't turn, but her chin tilted to the side as she acknowledged the retort. “I don't believe this is a competition,” she said plainly.

Akko glared, her fists clenching unconsciously at her sides. She stared at the back of Cavendish's head, even after they'd resumed their walk and Andrew began showing them other locations around the village. What did she mean by she didn't believe it was a competition? Was she saying that Akko could never be a better Hunter? Did Cavendish think she wasn't worthy?

That was stupid. Akko was just as good a Hunter as anyone else in the group. After all, _they'd_ never taken down a monster by themselves or even seen one up close! As far as she knew, anyway. And, okay, she hadn't, either, but that was beside the point. She had trained her whole entire life to have the opportunity to join the Commission and she would be damned if some pretty blonde who happened to be really good with a longsword and as close to perfection as Akko'd ever seen was going to act like she wasn't good enough.

She would show them all—but Cavendish more than any of them—that she deserved to be in the Commission, and that she was a good Hunter. She was Akko Kagari, and soon _everybody_ would know who she was.

* * *

 

As evidenced later in the evening, everyone knew who Akko Kagari was. And not in the way that she had intended. Carefully ignoring the squawks and calls of, “Hey, chicken slayer!” that echoed through the mess hall, she had gathered her meal and maintained an air of determined resolve.

Though there couldn't be much to be said of Luna Nova being pretty, or, really, homey, there was one thing that Akko very, _very_ much liked. And that was the food. The chef knew exactly what he was doing with the very few supplies that he was able to acquire through shipments, foraging, and hunting, and so what could have been a plain and tasteless meal was one of the best Akko'd ever had.

She hadn't been there long, but she swore up and down that every single meal was just as good, if not better, than the last. The chef even knew how to prepare spoiled meat in a way that she didn't care if she got sick later.

But tonight's meal was fresh. Her plate was piled high: grilled Gajau coated with butter and lemon that seemed to melt around her tongue, barbecued Mosswine ribs that fell right off the bone as Akko ripped at it with her fingers to shovel into her mouth. There was canteloupe and sugar-sprinkled grapefruit that had been grown in Astera and brought to the village by caravan--Luna Nova's small garden wasn't yet ready for harvest—and locally sourced mushrooms that were sauteed in garlic and wafted a mouth-watering scent into the air. Akko had no reservations with what Avery, the other girl who actually _knew_ what she was doing with the dual blades, had very cautiously said was, “A little bit greedy, eh?”

But Akko didn't see it as greed. No, she was fueling a body that was going to be one of the best Hunters that Luna Nova had ever seen. If she didn't eat properly, she wouldn't have the energy to fight, and if she didn't have the energy to fight, how was she supposed to show up Cavendish and the rest of the A-Listers?

The mess hall was busy with Hunters, Researchers, and Handlers rushing to and fro to get their meals before parting ways to bed down for the evening. Akko could hear the screech of Wingdrakes overhead, the beating of wings just above the lanterns that lit the outdoor tables that she was sitting at with the rest of the B-Listers. The night was pleasant. Still warm--but not in the unbearable way that it had been earlier in the day--and the slight, occasional breeze was more than welcome.

Though beauty itself seemed a foreign concept to the new village of Luna Nova, the dark abyss above held no regard to the low standard below. Stars were something that Akko rarely had the opportunity to see through the haze of city life back in the Old World, so as she held her rack of ribs to her mouth and gnawed at the meat, she found herself staring at the brilliant glow of the moon and the glistening display of constellations that glimmered into the night.

Her team was fairly quiet as they ate. They'd made their introductions earlier in the week, once they had all been assigned to the B-Listers and knew they would likely be acquainted for the remainder of their careers in the New World. There was Jasminka, their reserved Captain, the burly Russian who carried the hammer as though it was nothing more than an addition to her muscular arms. Constanze, the short German who never spoke but was more perceptive than anybody Akko had ever met. Her bowgun seemed to be the only thing she cared about and she had already made her own modifications with parts that she'd crafted herself. Even as they sat around the wooden table, she was taking the weapon apart, piece by piece, and carefully cleaning each individual component.

There was Avery, the purple-haired, soft-spoken Canadian with a lick of venom and a whole lot of sarcasm when she felt it necessary, who had explained to Akko that her father had once worked for the Commission and had taught her how to use her dual blades in a training yard he'd set up especially for her in the backyard of their home in Winnipeg. She had kindly shown Akko a few things already, like how to properly hold them and how to move without cutting herself.

There was Hannah, their handler, who had all but laughed at Akko when she'd tried to introduce herself, and Barbara, their researcher, who apparently came from England along with the auburn-haired Handler. The two had clearly been best friends long since their voyage to Luna Nova and seemed to want nothing to do with the Hunters that were their charge. Except Avery. They got along well with Avery.

“Hey, Wangari, it's our favorite chicken slayer. Hey, chicken slayer,” a voice behind her said.

Akko turned, her barbecue coated hands frozen on the ribs, to find O'Neill and Ironsi standing right behind her. They didn't have any food. Instead, they both had a massive wooden pint of ale and were grinning at her as they took sips. Wangari chuckled, her brown eyes devious as she stared down at Akko.

“Chicken slayer says she's gonna be a better hunter than us, 'Manda,” Wangari joked, nudging the redhead in the side and flashing a crooked smile. “You heard her earlier.”

“Yeah, I am!” Akko said around a mouthful of Mosswine meat. She could feel the barbecue sauce smeared across her cheeks but she ignored it. She swallowed it quickly as she glanced between the two A-Listers, her brown eyebrows stitched together. “I'm gonna be a great Hunter. You just watch.”

“Oh, yeah?” O'Neill laughed and poked at the swelling that was still very evident on Akko's forehead. The bruising had turned to a gross-looking yellow in the past couple of days, but it was still a pretty obvious goose-egg. “What are you gonna hunt, yourself?”

“Hey, hold on, I'll show you exactly how she'll hunt,” Wangari said. She slammed her ale down on the table, a little bit sloshing over and onto Akko's plate, as she brought her fists into the air as though she was going to fight the taller redhead. “C'mon, you stupid chicken!” she squawked, her voice a high and very poor imitation of Akko's. “I'll show you!”

O'Neill slammed her own wooden mug down next to Wangari's and tucked her arms, hunching over as she started strutting around. “Buh-gawk! I'm so scared!”

Wangari leapt onto O'Neill's back, her legs wrapping around the other girls hips as she let out a shrill laugh. She started fake-pounding O'Neill around the head and screaming, “Take that you dumb chicken! B-List Kagari is gonna kick your butt!”

“Gaaawwwk! I'm so scared! Please spare me, terrible Hunter!”

Akko felt herself flushing with anger, the heat rising to her ears as she stared at the two girls making fun of her. Even worse, the rest of her team had burst into laughter as though it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen. The act of betrayal made her blood run hot.

“That's so accurate!” Hannah said, curling over herself as she heaved for air. Barbara leaned against her, clutching her chest and choking on her own breaths and red in the face.

Wangari made a show of conking herself in the head with her hand and fell backwards, moaning loudly and dramatically as she rolled around on the ground. “Just gimme a minute, chicken! I'll get you yet!”

O'Neill was howling, her own hands clamping down on her knees as she choked and sputtered. The other A-Lister was rolling around, still making a show of slurs in what was supposed to be Akko's voice, kicking up dust with her leather shoes.

Akko shot to her feet, nearly falling over the wooden stool, which only made everybody laugh harder. It wasn't funny at all! Akko had made the team. Sure, she might have been the last choice, but she'd signed her name down for the Commission just like the rest of them and, regardless, she was now a Hunter!

A voice cleared behind them, loud and purposeful, and the laughter stilled. Akko turned, her cheeks beet red, to find Cavendish standing behind her. She had her own plate of food, though much more modest than Akko's own, and she was clutching it between her two hands as her blue eyes narrowed at the display. She had changed out of her armor and was instead wearing an olive drab button-up and a short pair of khaki shorts. Her blonde and tea-green hair was clean and still slightly damp from a shower, pulled over to one side and draping over her shoulders. Akko found herself staring at the muscular legs, wondering how she didn't have any bruises or scrapes when her own were absolutely covered.

“Are the two of you finished?” Cavendish asked, her voice dry and pointed.

Wangari clambered to her feet, clearly trying to stop herself from another burst of laughter. Amanda did the same, coming to stand next to the orange-haired girl and tensing her jaw with false sincerity.

“Aw, Diana, come on, we were just having a good time. Weren't we, Kagari?” O'Neill said.

Akko glared. Her eyes shot between Cavendish, who was staring at her teammates, and the other two A-Listers. Her own team was still trying to choke down their own laughter. Hannah and Barbara were failing miserably and were falling over their stools, hanging into each others laps as their shoulders shook. Hannah was wiping away tears.

The blonde took a deep breath, her shoulders tilting back in a minor correction to her posture. Her grip tightened around her plate. “This is a poor display of decorum and I would appreciate it if it didn't continue.”

“Yeah, yeah, Cap. Whatever you say,” O'Neill muttered. She reached for her mug, bending down to whisper in Akko's ear, “Ever heard of natural selection? I can't wait to watch it happen, Kagari.”

O'Neill backed off, smirking arrogantly. She and Wangari snatched up their ale and strutted away, making it only a couple feet when they burst into a fresh bout of laughter.

Cavendish lingered for a moment, her icy blue eyes darting to meet Akko's in a way that made the brunette squirm. The stare behind them was cold and unreadable, regarding her with a very brief, neutral glare before following behind the other A-Listers.

Her own team burst out laughing again and she heard Barbara squeal-yell, “Stupid chicken! Ha!” and Hannah follow up with a fresh bout of cackles. Akko blushed anew, swiping at her barbecue covered cheeks and staring down at her now ale-sloshed meal. She ate it anyway, ignoring the laughs and jokes of her own squad as she glared at the table that the A-Listers had taken nearby. Cavendish had her back to her, but O'Neill and Wangari could clearly be seen looking in her direction and laughing with each other over their drinks.

“Look at it this way, Akko,” Jasminka said from across the table, biting into her own rack of ribs and chewing contentedly, “You'll probably never have to fight a real Kulu, anyway.”

Akko knew she meant it as words of comfort. But that wasn't what she wanted to hear. She _wanted_ to fight the larger monsters, the ones that shot fire, the ones whose tails were tipped with poison, the ones who lived high in the icy mountains of the Coral Highlands. She wanted to grapple with sharp fangs and deadly claws and fight in the way she'd practiced on all of her parents' belongings for so long, in all the ways she'd dreamed of her whole life. But now she was resigned to hunting the exact meal that she was eating. To the boring, monotonous chore of hunting smaller monsters that wouldn't put up much of a fight, at all.

She glowered down at the ribs nearly picked dry of meat, at the Gajau that was half covered in Wangari's ale, ignoring the conversation as it slowly shifted away from the A-Listers and Akko and onto other things, like their upcoming classes and Palico selection.

Akko was going to prove them wrong. _All_ of them. She _was_ going to be a good Hunter, and she would do everything it took to become one.

 


	2. A Purrfect Companion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "hunger of the pine" : alt-j

Akko was having more than a little trouble.

Sweat poured down her temples, stinging into the corners of her eyes as she flew forward again and again, arcing her body in the way Avery was trying to show her as she sliced the wooden training blades across the dummy’s battered hide.  The grip of the blades crushed against her palm with the impact, biting at the blisters on her hands and making her cringe at the pain.  The metallic sting in her mouth made her take a step back, panting for air as she loosened her grip and flexed her fingers, her palms burning with each movement.

“Your body is disjointed,” Avery said from nearby.  She was standing a few feet off with her arms crossed over her leather cuirass, giving Akko a wide berth to avoid the flailing limbs of the determined B-Lister.  “Your timing needs to be impeccable to land blows in quick succession.  Watch.”

Akko stepped back out of the way to give the Canadian some room, sheathing her daggers and swiping a bead of sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.  They’d been training for the better part of the morning, an endless iteration of demanding physical activity that had Akko’s already tired body aching and sore from the effort.  She was limping already, fresh pain searing through her legs as each step chafed her boots against the massive blisters on the backs of her heels, and now it was difficult to hold her weapons with her torn up hands.  Still, she didn’t complain.  Hunters didn’t whine about physical pain—her current ailments would only serve to make her stronger in the long run.  Though she had to admit she couldn’t wait for gear issue, when she would actually get armor that fit properly and not the used old stuff that she’d been given when she first arrived.  Most other hunters had brought their own.  Akko didn’t have that luxury.

The sun had settled directly overhead in a cloudless blue sky, pouring heat over the Wildspire and Luna Nova as they trained.  Even the red sand seemed to emanate heat.  The ground rippled with quivering waves that made staring into the distance seem like peering into a hazy looking glass.  Around them, the hustle of the merchant square had slowed to a crawl as villagers, palicoes, and Lynians alike sought shelter from the sun in the shade of the thatch roofs and towering clay pueblos.  Above, wingdrakes drifted slowly, their wings beating a stop-and-start rhythm into the silence that surrounded the grunts of the hunters and thud of weapons against hide.  Far beyond one of the highest crags, a group of vultures circled overhead.

Hanbridge had taken a seat on the fence, bored as he watched the A-Listers and B-Listers training and clearly thinking about something else as he tapped the shaft of a wooden dagger against his greaves.  His bright green eyes were zoned on something off across the village, paying no attention to the efforts of the individuals in front of him.  The toe of his boot bounced a repetitive rhythm in thought.

“Everything needs to be in tandem,” Avery was saying as she unsheathed her blades and tossed them in the air in a spin before expertly catching both, readying a wide stance and bending forward as she brought her arms out.  “Dual blades are about speed and precision.”  She lunged forward, both blades swinging together through the air as they slashed across the dummy.  In an instant, she had leapt up, one hand arcing over her head as the other swept diagonal across her midsection.

Akko watched, still heaving from the physical effort of training, trying to take note of exactly how Avery moved her body and handled the weapons with fluid ease.  But, as she watched, her eyes slowly began to settle on the hunter training beyond her teammate, on the blonde and tea-green hair that seemed to sparkle as it caught the sun, at the sun-kissed skin that glistened beneath a sheen of sweat.

Cavendish looked like she was dancing.  She clutched the long, curved training longsword in two hands, the muscles in her arms flexing with each seemingly delicate maneuver.  As Akko watched, the girl leapt into the air, her long legs kicking out slightly behind her as her torso twisted and arched with the anticipation of an invisible strike.  Her biceps pulsed beneath her skin as she brought the sword down across her body, slicing straight through the dummy’s face to send a burst of straw and fur into the air around her.  She landed softly on her toes, one leg sweeping out beneath her as she ducked and spun the blade in one hand, the empty arm reaching out behind to steady her lean body as she brought the sword up and swept the dummy in a horizontal slice, the wood of the weapon nothing more than a blur behind the blazing speed of the uppercut.

The girl seemed neutral and poised as she righted herself, though Akko could clearly see her nostrils flare with the effort of filling her lungs.  The muscles of her abdomen pulsed and wavered with each deep breath, sparkling beneath damp skin, and Akko found herself staring, enthralled by the toned hunter and her graceful movements.  She wasn’t the only one.  Hanbridge had snapped his attention back to the training arena, where he watched the tall blonde with flashing eyes and an ardor that, based on his previous disinterest in what was going on, seemed uncharacteristic.  She watched as he passed a hand through his slick dark hair, wetting his lips as he stared.

Akko frowned.  The way he was looking at Cavendish made her feel uncomfortable, but she supposed… wasn’t she kind of looking at her the same way?  Who _wouldn’t_?  She was the pinnacle of grace, every move calculated and precise, and the fact that she was blessed with an insanely nice figure, well… that just made the whole thing even harder to look away from.

“Akko?  Are you even paying attention?”

She hadn’t even realized she’d zoned out staring at the A-Lister, who had stepped back to allow O’Neill to practice on the training dummy, which was in a mere moment smashed to the ground under the weight of the massive great sword (to which Hanbridge had jumped up and yelled, “Dammit, O’Neill!”)  Her eyes trailed up Cavendish’s body, over the pale skin of her torso and the perfectly fitting leather cuirass, to find bright blue eyes staring back, one blonde eyebrow raised quizzically.

“Akko?”

Akko felt herself flush and quickly brought her attention back to Avery, blinking away the still very fresh image of the other hunter’s majestic movements.  “Yes,” she answered, though the purple-haired girl obviously didn’t believe her based on the skeptical look on her face.

“Alright, then,” Avery murmured, clearly disbelieving as she sheathed her blades and stepped away.  “It’s your turn to try again.”

Akko huffed an acknowledgment, reaching up to wipe her wet bangs away from her eyes before taking a quick sip of water from her canteen.  She channeled her focus, eager to show that she could be just as skilled with her own weapons, and ignored the pain that nipped her hands as she wrapped her blistered fingers around the blades.  She readied her stance, much in the way that Avery had showed her, throwing the daggers out behind her back and bending slightly before rushing forward with a grunt.

She dashed to the side, bringing the blades up in an awkward swipe that completely missed the dummy.  Whatever, she would try again.  Her arms ached beneath the weight of exhaustion as she swung them up to the side, wooden blades slicing through the air and slamming into the tough torso hide.  The weapons shifted within her slippery grasp and bit into her skin, bursting her blisters in one swift movement.  Grunting the pain away, she grit her teeth and lifted her hands high above her head to bring the daggers crashing down against the shoulders of the dummy.

The impact made both of them fly out of sweaty, raw hands, landing on the ground in a puff of red dust.  Akko growled loudly, a reaction from both frustration, humiliation, and the overwhelming and very crushing sense of inadequacy, and she rocked back on her heels before jumping up and slamming the bottom of her foot right into the dummy’s chest.  The wooden stand bowed under the force of her kick and cracked loudly, making Hanbridge and every other hunter turn and stare at her as she tumbled into the sand that swirled, so dry and gritty it made her cough, with a choked yelp of surprise.

“Eesh,” Avery muttered, shrinking back away from the scene of the destroyed training dummy and a very agitated Akko.  “You definitely were _not_ paying attention.”

“Kagari!”

Hanbridge’s voice bellowed out across the training arena and he launched off the fence, stalking quickly over.  Akko felt her frown deepening with each heavy thud of his bone boots against the ground.  He stopped beside her as she clambered to her feet, stern green eyes flickering between Akko and the broken dummy.  She breathed hard, her chest rolling each time she sucked in air, her face flamed with both embarrassment and anger.

She hated those stupid dual blades.  She hated everything about them.  Unable to control herself, she reeled back one leg and kicked one of the wooden weapons hard.  As if to mock her, it only spun a few feet away.

Everything had grown silent.  There was no longer the grunts of effort as hunters whirled and jumped in an struggle to perfect their technique.  There was no longer the echo of wood against hide, of encouraging shouts from training partners, of the heavy panting of physical exertion.  No, every single person was looking at her.  Her gaze darted off to the side, where Cavendish was standing with her arms folded across her chest and her blue eyes narrowed with focus.

“Kagari, what in the Deviljho was that?” Hanbridge huffed, his voice edged with the sharp blade of anger.  “Materials are hard enough to come by in this waste of a place, and you’re just trashing our equipment like all of this grows on the non-existent trees around here!”  He scowled, gently nudging the splintered wood of the dummy’s stand with the toe of his boot.  A great crack rang out as the stand gave and the dummy collapsed against the sand in a puff of dust.

“What are you _talking_ about?” Akko moaned.  She took a step back, lifting one hand to point at where O’Neill was frozen with the great sword over her shoulder, another wrecked dummy off to her side by Cavendish’s feet.  “ _She_ did the same thing and you’re not making a big deal out of that!”

Hanbridge pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath and sighing heavily as though he needed to gather his bearings before he continued.  After a moment, he lifted his gaze back to Akko.  “O’Neill is utilizing her weapon properly, and the casualty of that equipment is simply an unfortunate side-effect of wielding such a heavy weapon.  You, on the other hand, decided to lose your temper and trash your target.  Now, thanks to you, we only have three dummies for the lot of you until we can get the Smithy to make another.”

Akko scowled, eyebrows stitching together as she glared back.  “That was with my _foot_!  You should be impressed I’m so strong!  I would have blasted a Great Jagras clear across the Ancient Forest with a hit like that!”

“A Great Jagras would have eaten you long before you got the chance,” Hanbridge snapped.  His hand shot out and he seized Akko’s outstretched wrist, roughly turning her hand over to inspect the raw skin and the thin rivulets of blood that ran slowly from where she’d torn it.  “I swear, if you don’t get yourself killed on your first expedition I will be shocked.  Cavendish, would you please escort Kagari to the medic so she can have this tended to?”

“I don’t need—”

“One more word out of your mouth and I’ll have you scrubbing the latrines with a toothbrush,” Hanbridge spat.  He dropped Akko’s hands, a little roughly, as Cavendish racked her longsword and stepped forward.  “Graham, train with O’Neill.”

Akko grumbled, plucking her blades off the ground and sliding them back into their own slots on the rack.  She clenched her fists together, gritting her teeth at the pain of broken skin and blisters, and glowered at the blonde’s neutral expression before whirling on a heel and striding out of the arena.

Cavendish walked at her side, her eyes locked ahead as she matched Akko’s unreasonably quick pace.  Akko could hear the leather of her armor rubbing against itself as her gauntlets occasionally struck her greaves, the boots that treaded so lightly that she could have walked away and Akko wouldn’t have noticed.  Well, if she hadn’t been watching the other girl out of the corner of her eye, anyway.  Akko silently admired the way the rays of the high afternoon sun glimmered against long, wavy golden hair.  How beads of sweat glistened from her collarbones, her neck, her hairline.  A little bit of dust had smeared across Cavendish’s cheek and nose and Akko fought the urge to tell her because, somehow, that line of dirt gave Akko the satisfaction of the A-Lister having _some_ sort of imperfection.  Even if it was, well… temporary.  And hard-earned.

“I don’t understand how you’re so good at this,” Akko said after a long silence.  She looked away from Cavendish, her eyes falling on a Lynian biologist who was busy grinding something into a mortar and pestle.  His small arms flexed with strength as he pounded at the herbs inside.

Cavendish glanced over, only briefly, before returning her gaze straight ahead.  She was quiet and, for a moment, Akko thought she wasn’t going to get an answer.  Until she finally said, her voice low and level, “Training.”

Akko grunted.  “You must have been one of those privileged kids with hunter parents.  Must have been nice.”

Cavendish said nothing.  She hooked her thumbs into the leather belt across her cuirass, the one that held her longsword’s sheath to her back, and simply kept walking.  The medic tent loomed ahead, so small and underwhelming that Akko wondered if they even had the proper medical supplies to deal with critical injuries.  A few Lynians milled about beneath the shade of the tent, bored without patients and instead trying desperately to seek refuge from the relentless sun.

“Ah, a hunter!” one Lynian exclaimed upon realization that Akko was headed in their direction.  “Injured during a hunt, were you?  Come, let us take a look at the extent of your wounds.”

Akko felt her face redden with embarrassment as she glanced down at the oozing blisters on her hands, flexing her fingers and taking a sharp intake as the pain stung with the movement.  She expected Cavendish to call her out, to let the Lynian medic know that, no, she hadn’t injured herself on a hunt, but instead had merely done it to herself through her own resolute ignorance.  But Cavendish stayed quiet, instead moving to the side where another Lynian was mixing potions and organizing herbs atop a hastily built wooden table.

“Something like that,” Akko muttered.  She presented her hands, which the shorter creature took gently to inspect, eyes wide and scrutinizing beneath thick lenses.

“Ah, just blisters.  I see, I see.  Nothing a little TLC can’t nurture.  Let’s get you patched up.”

Akko’s eyes strayed to Cavendish as the Lynian delicately began to mend her hands.  She winced at the sting of antiseptic, but took a deep breath and forced her expression to remain neutral.  She wouldn’t show pain.  Pain was for the weak and, well, a Hunter could not be weak.

The Lynian and Cavendish were chatting quietly.  The few words that were loud enough for Akko to hear, she couldn’t quite understand.  She narrowed her eyes, focusing her attention on the tall blonde and the short, long-eared medic.  She watched the flex of Cavendish’s shoulder blades, of her muscles around the dimples of her lower back as she straightened her posture and pointed out certain healing items.

“Good to go,” the medic holding Akko’s hands chirped.  Akko looked down to find her hands heavily bandaged.  She frowned, flexing her fingers and finding little in the way of maneuverability, but the pain was lessened.

“Thank you,” she said.

In a moment, Cavendish was striding back to her, tucking something into the pouch at the side of her greaves.  Blue eyes trailed down to Akko’s bandaged hands and she nodded once.  She didn’t wait for Akko as she whirled on a heel and began walking back in the direction of the training arena.  Offering another quick thank you to the medic, Akko rushed after her, ignoring the sting of her over-sized boots against the blisters on her heels.

The sun was slipping behind a single cloud, casting shadows over the market square of Luna Nova, and Akko took a deep breath and relished in the sudden relief from the heat.  Cavendish was silent once more, her hand tucked in her pouch and rolling over whatever it was she’d collected from the medic tent.  Akko was wondering what to say to her, unable to bear the anxiety of uncomfortable silence much longer, when her eyes fell on something wandering around off to the side.

She stopped.

“By the Elders,” she murmured, a grin widening along with her eyes.  “It’s so cute!”

A tiny piglet was rooting at the side of a merchant’s stand, contentedly gnawing at a few rotten berries that had been tossed to the side.  Her tiny, curled tail wagged with joy as she lifted her head and munched, regarding the two hunters with an indifferent glance before returning to her meal.

Akko stepped closer, kneeling and reaching out with her freshly bandaged hands to the gleeful piglet.

“Kagari, I would refrain from—”

But Akko certainly wasn’t listening to Cavendish.  Her mind was focused on the adorable being in front of her, which she scooped into her arms and held in a tight hug.  “You’re adorable,” Akko cooed, ignoring the squirming legs of the piglet as it tried to get away.  “You’re the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!”

In an instant, the piglet let out a loud, ear-piercing squeal.  Akko felt teeth sink into her forearm and yelped in both surprise and pain, dropping the small creature to the ground where it darted off in a series of angry grunts and groans.  “I just wanted to love you!” Akko yelled after, one freshly bandaged hand closing around an arm that was dripping fresh droplets of bright red blood.

Cavendish let out a long, exasperated sigh.  She raised a hand, a lazy index finger falling on a sign that, in clear view, read:

_CAUTION: TOUCH POOGIE AT YOUR OWN RISK_

The merchant, meanwhile, who had been watching the entire time, was busy stifling laughter from behind his wares.  When Akko shot him a glare, he promptly silenced his laughter and instead turned to disappear into his tiny tent.

Cavendish began walking again… but in the opposite direction of where they’d been headed.

“Where are you going?” Akko called after her, pulling her hand away and noting the fresh blood that stained her white bandages.  She sighed, making a face at the poogie, which had turned around to wag its tail at her, as if mocking.

“Back to the medic tent,” Cavendish said flatly, not bothering to break her stride nor look back at Akko.  Akko turned and trotted after her, ignoring the way her feet slid around in her boots, until she was meeting the other girl’s stride once more.

“It’s no big deal,” Akko said, offering a cheerful smile.  “It doesn’t hurt.  Besides, it’s kind of funny, really—”

“It’s not funny,” Cavendish snapped.  She stopped on a dime, whirling to face Akko with a glare and a chin tilted up in defiance.  “You’re taking none of this seriously.”

Akko’s eyebrows knit together in confusion.  “I am--” she started to argue.

But Cavendish cut her off.  “You’re not.  Sure, it’s just you getting hurt right now.  And, luckily, at camp.  But out there—” Cavendish lifted an arm that glistened with sweat, pointing to the red ridges and the dark shadows that fell over the Wildspire Waste.  Akko could see the outlines of a few wingdrakes soaring above one of the highest peaks.  “Out there, not paying attention will get you killed.  Or worse,” she took a deep breath through her nostrils, blue eyes flaring, “get somebody else killed.”

Akko felt her jaw clenching, her face reddening with embarrassment.  But she didn’t argue.  She _couldn’t_ argue.  Cavendish was right… as much as Akko didn’t want her to be.

If she was going to be the Hunter she needed to be, the Hunter she _wanted_ to be, she was going to have to change.  She couldn’t be the girl with the broom behind her parents’ pawn shop fighting wicker baskets and drying laundry.  She couldn’t be the girl she was back home, where her greatest threat had been punishment from her parents for the items she’d break in her attempts at training.

She was a Hunter.  A _real_ Hunter, even if only a B-Lister, and the threat that lie beyond those great Adobe walls was far more than the inanimate monsters of her childhood imagination.  They were real, they were dangerous, and the road ahead would be long and arduous.

And, when the time came, she would have to be ready.

* * *

 Akko was struggling not to fall asleep.

“That covers the monsters native to the Waste,” Hanbridge was saying from where he stood before the group of seated Hunters, pointing out crude drawings of monsters on a massive sheet of parchment.  Arrows pointed to the weakest points of each monster, accompanied with a full list of known strengths and weaknesses for each.  It had thus far been a boring lecture and Akko had taken to sipping from her canteen often just to keep herself awake. 

“The Kulu-Ya-Ku, Barroth, Jyuratodus, and both species of the Diablos will be most common in this area.  However, the initiative of the Commission is to expand our reach into the New World.  We’ll be encountering other species of monsters along the way, and therefore it’s important to know not only the local population, but species of other habitats as well.”

“But don’t some overlap into other habitats?” Avery had asked with a raise of her hand.

“Yes.” Hanbridge nodded, running a hand through his sweat-drenched black hair as he leaned the stick he was using as a pointer against his display and stepping forward.  Though it was still early in the morning, the sun was already at its peak.  And, with it, the heat.  The stench of sweat and dirty armor flooded around the Hunters in an invisible cloud that spoke of long days and endless training. The hide canopy that had been crudely assembled over their rigid stone seats did little to offer respite from the heat, which seemed to sizzle upwards from the red sand at their feet.  Akko was exhausted, having barely been able to sleep the night before because her body was so sunburnt she couldn’t find any semblance of comfort in her small cot.  So she had lied awake most of the night, listening to the rhythmic breathing and snores of the other hunters, and wished for sleep to come.

It had come, but only a couple of hours before daybreak.

Akko yawned.

Hanbridge continued.  “Some species are capable of thriving in multiple habitats.  The Kulu-Ya-Ku, for example, can also be found in the Ancient Forest.”

“So Kagari can fight a chicken in more than one place,” Akko overheard O’Neill sniggering to Ironsi.  The red-head jabbed the other girl with an elbow and the pair turned, winking in sync at Akko before turning back to the front.  Cavendish, seated alongside them, shot a warning glare and the stifled laughter quickly turned to silence.

“There are a few monsters who can only live in certain habitats, however.  One of the most notable of these is the Legiana, who lives near the highest peak of the Coral Highlands in the snowy region.  The Legiana is tough, resilient, and can easily out-battle a team of hunters who are not physically prepared to fight the monster on its own turf.”

Akko squirmed in her seat, watching as Andrew turned the page to a crudely drawn flying wyvern.

“This drawing,” Hanbridge said, pointing to the terrible piece of art at his side, “cannot do this monster justice.  And, for that, we will instead be headed to the research laboratory to take a look at this monster up close and personal.”

Avery’s body tensed at Akko’s side.  She shot up, grinning as she addressed their Team Lead.  “You mean there’s a Legiana here?  A real one?”

Hanbridge nodded, the corner of his lip cricking into a smirk.  “There is.  A team from Astera was able to capture and deliver the Legiana just last night.  It’s currently undergoing analysis and the Lynians have invited us to come see the monster in a safe, secure location.”

Akko could barely contain her own excitement.  A real monster… at Luna Nova!  She had never seen a real live monster up close before, save for the Kulu-Ya-Ku that was really only Hanbridge anyway, and the lack of sleep was all but forgotten as she rushed to her feet to follow the others.  The Handlers and Researchers trailed behind Hanbridge, equally excited with their own rapid chatter.

“How wild do you think it’ll be?” Jasminka asked.  “I heard Legiana can be pretty feisty.”

“I bet it’s already tried to tear apart the whole research center,” Avery said.  She added a little skip to her step until she was mere paces in front of the B-Listers, turning around to walk backwards with a wide grin.  “Would I ever love to fight a Legiana.  Imagine mounting that thing…”

Constanze offered a firm nod.  Her hand fell on the bowgun that hung at her side, gently swaying against her leather greaves.

Akko said nothing.  She was too excited about the prospect of seeing her very first monster.  Live, up close.  She pictured the massive wyvern pacing back and forth behind an enclosure that barely held the power of the large creature, its wings outstretched with the desire to take flight once more.  She imagined its wild eyes, the sharp fangs that would flash at the sight of its onlookers, the massive tail that would sweep out in a desperate lunge for freedom.

But what she saw was nothing of what she imagined.

The Legiana was not in an enclosure.  It was not free to move around.  There was no spirit in its eyes, no sign of the violent monster that Akko had imagined.

Instead, it lay on a wooden platform.  Its body was covered in scars and open gashes that bled freely, untended by the Lynians as they simply stood nearby scribbling on their clipboards.  Scales had been ripped clean from its flesh, exposing tissue underneath that seemed to sizzle beneath the heat of the summer sun.  Massive chains restrained the monster from even moving to get into a more comfortable position, digging so hard into blue flesh that as it squirmed, Akko could see the damage that they were doing.  The metal chains cut into its skin, creating raw, open sores that oozed yellow and green pus.  Its wings, torn and ripped in various places, had been stretched to its full wingspan, ropes looped around the claws of its legs to pull them tight against posts that had been placed at opposite ends of the platform.

Akko’s step faltered as she neared the monster.  Gone was her excitement, gone was the thrill of seeing a wild monster up close.  This was no wild monster.  This was a prisoner, a captor of war, a broken being with nothing left but pain.

She moved closer, pushing through the other Hunters to come to the rail at the edge of the platform.  Wide red eyes fell on the Legiana’s head and she felt nausea building in her gut.  Her jaw clenched with her fists, which white-knuckled against the thin wooden rail.  She could feel splinters digging into the parts of her palm that were exposed through the bandages, but she didn’t care.

The Legiana’s neck was curled at an awkward angle, its face planted on its side.  Barbed wire had been wrapped tightly around its muzzle and the razor-sharp blades cut deep into the once beautiful, glistening scales of its face.  The wing-like horns lay drooped, lifeless, around the monster’s bloodied neck.

Akko forced herself to meet the Legiana’s eyes.  It seemed to stare back at her and in those golden eyes she did not find the wild spirit that she hoped to see but, instead, the pleading gaze of misery in defeat.

“This is the Legiana,” Hanbridge was saying over the noise of chattering Hunters.  “A flying wyvern that is native to the Coral Highlands.  It’s a fierce enemy, one that can easily defeat a team of ill-prepared Hunters.  Its razor-sharp talons alone are strong enough to lift a fully-equipped Hunter off the ground.  Tell me, what is the Legiana’s greatest weakness?”

Akko did not see razor-sharp talons.  She saw limp legs stretched out at awkward angles, its toes curled in on each other and flexing only occasionally to keep the blood-flow.

“The Legiana is weak to weapons imbued with fire,” Cavendish said quietly.  She, too, was peering down at the monster with the hint of a frown.

Akko glanced up at the sun, allowing it for a moment to burn her eyes until her vision flashed white before turning her attention back to the wyvern.  Its nostrils flared in heavy pants, mouth open as far as the barbed wire would allow, struggling in the heat of the day.

_The highest peak.  In the snowy region._

Sweat trickled down Akko’s back beneath her cuirass.  She could feel it running down her face, wetting her once-dry hair.  She opened her mouth and took a deep breath, feeling nothing but dust and heat bite at her dry tongue.  She glanced down at the canteen at her side, the one she’d been sipping from, and felt the gnawing ache to take a sip.

She didn’t.

Wide red eyes fell once more on gold.  The Legiana seemed to be staring at her.  It blinked slowly, its eyelids lingering for a moment before pulling away once more.  From its mouth came a strangled cry.  The noise was not threatening, was not angry.

It was pain.

Akko felt a lump forming in her throat.  She swallowed hard.

“This monster—”

“What will become of it?” Akko interrupted.  She turned her attention to Hanbridge, who was leaning against the rail, his legs kicked out and crossed in relaxation.  As though there was nothing wrong with the scene behind him.  As if the act of cruelty itself was an everyday thing, was something that he had grown accustomed to.  And maybe he had.

Hanbridge blinked.  He straightened up, rising as he turned to look at the once majestic creature.  “She will be studied, of course.  Every aspect of her will be monitored and recorded in our database, which helps our hunts by providing us the most up-to-date knowledge on our enemy.”

Akko swallowed.  “And then?” she asked, not altogether sure she wanted to know the answer—because she _did_ already know.  “And then what happens?”

“She’ll be killed,” Hanbridge said simply.  He leaned over the rail, cocking his head at the Legiana in a childlike manner.  “The most important parts of her body will be catalogued and then used for crafting new material.”

He moved on in his lecture, returning his attention to the rest of the Hunters, who seemed ignorant to the scene of abuse before them.  Akko met the Legiana’s gaze once more.  Inside she found only sadness, only pain, and without thinking any further she was sliding beneath the railing and dropping down onto the platform that held the monster.

“Kagari,” she heard Hanbridge shout over the rail.  “What do you think you’re doing?  Get out of there!”

Akko ignored him.  She stepped slowly to the Legiana, watching as it squirmed and twitched beneath its tight restraints, its golden eyes flashing with fear as she neared.  She dropped to one knee beside its head.  Up close, its wounds looked even worse.  She felt queasy as she reached forward, hesitant at first, until her fingers were brushing against scales that seemed impossibly soft.

“It’s okay,” Akko whispered.  “I won’t hurt you.”

The Legiana’s eyes softened.  It opened its mouth a little further and inside Akko could see long, bone dry fangs as the monster panted through the heat and humidity.  The wyvern wasn’t even hydrated enough to form saliva.  It made no attempt to bite, to harm.  Not that it could.  It winced beneath the pain of the barbs with each tiny twitch of its muzzle.

Her hand found the half-full canteen at her side.  She pulled it up and unscrewed the top, tempted to take a sip herself but knowing she could refill it as needed.  Her thirst was not as dire.  Her plight was nothing in comparison to that of the Legiana.  She knelt further, one hand moving carefully under the Legiana’s muzzle to lift it, cautious not to touch the razor wire as she held the canteen to the corner of its partially open mouth.

She let the water trickle out, watching as the monster’s forked tongue began to move, lapping desperately at the cool liquid.  Its eyes squeezed shut as it concentrated on getting as much of the water as possible.  She lazily stroked the soft scales of its pale blue face, careful to avoid the wounds inflicted from the wire.

“Kagari!” Hanbridge’s voice was right behind her now.  She felt a rough grip seizing her upper arm, yanking. Akko yanked back.  She fought him until every last drop of the canteen was empty, though most of the water had ended up soaking and dripping through the slots in the wooden platform, until Hanbridge’s strength was too much and her body was being pulled away.

“This isn’t research,” Akko declared, huffing as Hanbridge pulled her back over the rail and dropped her unceremoniously to the ground in front of the rest of the Hunters.  “This is cruelty.”

“You may think it’s cruel,” Hanbridge said, “but this cruelty will save your life.  Without researching these monsters, we won’t know how to fight them.  And if we don’t know how to fight them, we die.”

“We already know how to fight them.” Akko’s face was red with both embarrassment and anger.  “You just told us all about this monster.  What more is there to learn?  What are you going to get from a helpless creature that’s chained so tight it can’t move?”  Her eyes flashed as she glanced around at all the hunters.  At O’Neill, who was sniggering behind her hand and whispering something to Ironsi.  At Cavendish, who held an unrecognizable stare that Akko could only guess had something to do her thoughts on Akko not taking anything seriously.

At the rest of the Hunters, who didn’t seem to _care_.

“This is a living being,” Akko continued.  The empty canteen was light in her hand as she clutched it tight in her grip.  “Not an experiment.”

Akko knew she was going to be in trouble.  She knew that she’d spend the better part of her evening cleaning something just for the sake of cleaning something, or scrubbing the dishes alongside the palicoes at the back of the canteen, or shining every single gem that was housed in the Luna Nova vault.  But she didn’t care.

The monster was not the one chained to that platform.  And in that moment, she wanted nothing to do with it.

* * *

 

Akko huffed as she rocked back onto her heels, taking a moment to stretch her arm out in front of her and shake away the pain and rigid tension that had formed from scrubbing the floor for so long.  The muscles of her arms ached and her back and neck throbbed from bending over for so long.  The Gastodon fur brush did little to remove the grime that coated the wooden floor and, with a sigh, she dunked it once more into the bucket of soap water and got back to work, pressing down hard to try to remove what seemed like months of caked filth.  Even in the later hours of the night, the heat was unbearable.  Sweat beaded at her temples and trickled down over her eyebrows and she had to stop often to swipe it away before it burned into her eyes.  Vespoids buzzed by her ears and she swatted them away, ignoring the few bites on her bare arms and legs that were already forming welts and begging to be scratched.

It didn’t help that the rest of the Hunters were nearby, gathered at a long table on the far side of the canteen with mugs of ale and a giant feast spread before them.  The smell of braised Kestodon basted in a sweet balsamic glaze, of potatoes baked with butter and topped with bits of smoked Mosswine bacon, teased at her senses and she repressed the ache in her stomach.  She’d be able to eat when she was done—what was left, anyway—though she longed to be part of the laughter and merriment that came from their direction.

But no, this was her punishment for kindness.  And, as she thought about it, tears stung at the corners of her eyes.  She thought about the Legiana nearby, chained cruelly tight to its platform while the heat ate away at its flesh and the Vespoids drew their fill of blood.  A beautiful creature who deserved a dignified death, not the weak display of power it was being subject to.  Not the brutality of the Commission, who seemed to see nothing wrong with what was being done.

“Hey,” came a soft voice from nearby.  Akko glanced up to find the A-List Handler standing only a few feet away.  “Kagari, right?”

Akko let out a long sigh and sat back once more, ignoring the dirty soap water that was dripping onto her bare thighs as she looked up at the short, orange-haired girl who tentatively sat on the closest bench.  She’d already been lectured by her own Handler (“You have to adapt.  The Commission can’t handle a rogue Hunter who has no bearing or self-restraint.”) and expected the other to do the same, even if Akko didn’t fall under her watch.  She’d been catching hell for showing kindness to the Legiana all day long and, not that she cared, but she was growing quite sick of it.

“Akko,” she said quietly, lowering the brush to the ground and swiping her wet hands against her worn khaki shorts.  “Akko is fine.”

“Akko, then.”  The shorter girl nodded, leaning forward so her elbows were planted against her knees.  She wore thick glasses, though they did nothing to hide the large blue eyes that were soft with kindness.  “I just wanted to tell you that I respect what you did for that Legiana today.  Lotte.”  She stretched her hand forward.

Akko cocked her head to the side, ignoring the fresh itch of a Vespoid bite to the back of her arm as she stared at the Handler.  From the firm chewing out by Admiral Meridies and Hanbridge, followed by the lecture from England and the many taunts from O’Neill and Ironsi, she hadn’t been expecting Yansson—Lotte—to say anything of the sort.  She reached forward, taking the girl’s hand and shaking it briefly.  Lotte made a face and swiped her hand on her own shorts.

“Eh, sorry,” Akko apologized, motioning to the bucket of water that had grown dark from the muck and the brush that lay on its side before her.  “Wet hands.”

“It’s okay.”  Lotte smiled.  A moment of awkward silence passed before she said, “I don’t know if you heard yet, but you’re all picking out your palicoes tomorrow.  That should make the chore a little more bearable.”

Akko’s eyes widened.  She felt her mouth dropping open and quickly shut it before breaking into a wide grin.  “Really?  We are?”

Lotte nodded.  “Just announced.  I’m sure your own Handler will tell you later, but she got called to speak with the Admiral.”

Great.  Akko knew what that was about.  England would inevitably get in trouble for not being in complete control of her charge… which was Akko.  She’d made it very obvious during the lecture that she was much more concerned about her own welfare and good status as a Handler.  A Handler who couldn’t control her Hunter would inevitably have her actions and leadership be called into question.  Her smile fell at the thought.  “Right,” she murmured, looking down at her hands.  The bandages were soaked and filthy from scrubbing the floor and she knew she’d either have to go back to the medic tent to have them replaced or grin and bear it through the pain of breaking blisters once more.  And, with Akko being Akko, it would no doubt be the latter.

Though the thought of England getting yelled at for something _she’d_ done did rather dampen the mood, she couldn’t deny how excited she was about getting her very own palico.  Finally, a friend.  A companion.  Somebody that would look out for her and protect her when the other hunters didn’t believe in her.  Her palico would be her sidekick, her battle buddy, her partner in arms!  She had let herself drift into a bit of a daydream (what about a ginger?  A long-haired ginger with bright green eyes!) when she became acutely aware that Lotte was holding something out to her.

“Somebody wanted me to give these to you,” she said.

Akko blinked up.  In Lotte’s outstretched hand were a pair of thin, clearly worn fingerless gloves.  She took them gingerly, running her fingers over the smooth, bright green and yellow material.  Jagras skin.  It was a weightless material, flexible, perfect for wielding quick and light weapons like her dual blades.

“And this,” Lotte added.  In her other hand she held out a vial, filled with a green gel that glimmered beneath the lanterns strung above.  Akko took it in her other hand, turning the small glass bottle in her hand.

“It’s a soothing gel made from Vigorwasp spray,” the Handler said.  “Good for blisters and other sores.  It’ll help accelerate the healing process and take the pain away along with it. 

“I, um.”  Akko stared down at the items she held.  She glanced up, met Lotte’s searching blue eyes.  “Tell ‘somebody’ I said thank you.”

Lotte nodded.  Smiled.  She rose, brushing off the back of her shorts and turning to look back at the rest of the Commissioners across the canteen.  “I should get back,” she said.  “See you tomorrow, Akko.”

“See you,” Akko replied.  But she didn’t go back to cleaning.  Not right away.  She set the vial of Vigorwasp gel down next to her and turned the soft gloves over in her hands.  She was about to slide one on, to test the fit and see how they felt when she flexed her fingers, when her eyes caught the marking of the previous owner carefully marked on the inside:

D.C.

Akko looked up, found the group of people laughing and chatting merrily beneath the lanterns over mugs of sloshing ale and the remnants of their feast.

Blue eyes met her own, briefly, in nothing more than the stutter of a passing second, before Cavendish turned away as though she was never looking in the first place.

* * *

 “Palico day!  Palico day!” Akko cheered as she bounced around the B-List barracks.  She’d been up an hour before their usual wake-up, already dressed and ready in her oversized leather armor.  The rest of the team was just beginning to stir.  Constanze picked up a pillow and chucked it in Akko’s direction but missed entirely with her eyes still glazed from sleep.

“Shut up already,” Avery grumbled as she sat up on her own cot.  She rubbed her eyes with her fists, yawning loudly as she began to scramble up and sleepily dress.  “We heard you the first fifty-seven times.”

“And you’ll hear me fifty-eight!” Akko declared.  “It’s Palico day!”

She wasn’t the only one that was excited to get her very own palico.  The air in the training yard was abuzz with enthusiasm as the Hunters trickled into formation, each talking about the traits of their potential new companions.  O’Neill was loudly and animatedly telling Ironsi how she pictured hers as,

“The _coolest_ cat to walk the New World,” she exclaimed, a broad grin spread across her freckled face.  “Y’know, he—or she, alright, whichever, doesn’t matter—has got to have a personality that can keep up with mine.  Feel?”

“That’d be easy,” Ironsi snarked.  “Just put all the palicoes in a race and the slowest one is yours.’

“Aw, fuck off, Wangari.”  Amanda’s grin widened.  “I hope your palico pisses on your pillow at night.”

Akko fell into formation behind them.  “My palico is going to be _purr_ fect.”  She smirked at her own joke.  “Get it?”

Ironsi and O’Neill turned in unison and blurted, “Shut up, Kagari.”

“Aw, c’mon,” Akko grumbled, kicking at the sand.  Even though it was early in the morning and the sun had barely crested the horizon, she could already feel sweat pooling at her lower back.  “It was a good one.”

Jasminka fell in beside her, still fumbling with tired hands to buckle the leather straps of her cuirass.  “It was pretty bad,” she remarked, shrugging.  “But I can appreciate the pun.”

The palicoes had only just arrived from Astera by caravan the day before.  The corral they were being held in was at the far side of Luna Nova, beyond the market square and the forge that was still cold and untouched in the early morning hours. Both the A-List and B-List Handlers were already there, clipboards out and at the ready as they studied and inventoried each of the palicoes: colors, heights, weights, personality traits, strengths and weaknesses as depicted by the trainers they’d come from back in the Old World.  Each palico had been bred and raised for the day when they would stand beside a Hunter, each trained in specific qualities that would provide aid to a team during battle.  Both Handlers looked up at the arriving hunters.  Lotte smiled and nodded at Akko, who returned the gesture.

Normally, Akko’s heels would be aching from the hike across the base.  Today, she felt as comfortable as she possibly could in her oversized boots.  She’d smeared a generous handful of the Vigorwasp spray over the back of her heels, covering the soothing gel with moleskin that Jasminka had kindly offered from her own assortment of first aid supplies.  And, while she wasn’t completely without discomfort, she had to admit that it was much easier to move about without the stinging pain of freshly oozing blisters. The Jagras skin gloves were tucked carefully beneath her leather belt.  She often found her hand straying to the soft material, moving it beneath her fingers and rubbing the pad over thumb over the worn material.

The palicoes milled about beneath the shade of a thatch awning, mewling with nervous excitement as the Hunters gathered around a makeshift rope fence that had been hastily assembled around their little hut.  Akko rocked onto her toes, struggling to rise above the taller girls in front of her to see the palicoes.  There were all shapes and sizes: gingers, tuxedoes, calicoes, tortoiseshells, black, white, short-haired, long-haired, broad, narrow.  Some grouped together, a few wandered about, taking in the surroundings that was nothing more than rocks, withered herbs, and sand.  The Waste was a far cry from Astera, and Akko knew the palicoes had to be relatively disappointed in their new home, just as she had been.  Others still slept peacefully, oblivious to their onlookers and the sun beginning to glare over the highest peak of the Waste.

“They’re so cute,” Akko whispered, only to receive a, “ _Shh, Akko_ ,” from Avery.

“Now, remember,” Hanbridge boomed from in front of the formation.  “Just as you choose your palico, your palico must choose you.  Your choice should be made with careful calculation and not superficial judgment.  These will be your companions through hardship, through battle, through the mundane day-to-day.  Your palico--” His own palico, a short-haired tuxedo with brilliant green eyes, hopped onto his shoulder and peered down at the Hunters.  Hanbridge reached up and fondly scratched the back of its neck, trying to hide a smile but failing nonetheless.  “Your palico can be the difference between life and death, victory or defeat.”

Akko was barely listening.  She was still straining to see the palicoes, trying to pick one out from where she stood.  She could see a long-haired calico that was grooming itself at the side of the hut.  She grinned.  That was the one she wanted.  “I found mine!” she whispered loudly.

“Your Handlers will assist you with your decision,” Hanbridge was saying.  “Any questions about particular palicoes can be addressed to them.  They possess all the trainer’s notes, to include strengths, weaknesses, and pedigrees.”

“Akko, chill out,” Avery hissed, grabbing Akko’s arm to keep her from bouncing up and down.  “Unless you want to scrub the canteen again.”

She didn’t.  She settled back down, nervously stroking the Jagras skin gloves as she waited for the moment when Hanbridge would say:

“Alright, proceed with your selection.”

She burst forward, hastily shoving into Ironsi and O’Neill to an angry, “Watch it, Kagari!” as she slid underneath the rope fence and bee-lined for the calico.

“Hi there,” Akko said, kneeling before the calico, who was gnawing at one of the pads of her paws between long, calculated licks.  “I’m Akko.”

The calico side-eyed her before spreading her legs and moving on to grooming the long, colorful fur of her stomach.  Akko wasn’t sure how to proceed.  Did she just pick up the palico and say, “This is mine,” and be on her merry way?  Or was there an exchange of sorts?  She cocked her head at the cat, reaching forward with a hesitant hand.

“You can be my palico,” Akko said, letting her fingers fall gently on the palico’s soft head.

The calico ceased her grooming, yellow eyes flicking up to meet Akko’s.  Her mouth spread, teeth flashing in a long, drawn out hiss as the freshly clean paw swiped forward.  Claws sliced across the back of Akko’s hand, marking her with fresh scratches that slowly began to ooze blood.

“Ow!” Akko yelped, falling over backwards with a thud and a puff of sand.  She could hear O’Neill laughing behind her.

“She doesn’t like you, that’s for sure,” O’Neill said from where she was kneeling beside a very animated ginger cat.  “She probably knows she’d be doing all the work.”

“Come here, little one,” Avery cooed, dropping to a knee a few feet from Akko.  She smiled warmly at the calico, holding out her hand and beckoning the palico to come closer.  The calico perked up, climbing gracefully to her feet and strutting over to the other Hunter with her tail curled into the air.  Loud, rumbling purrs emanated from the palico as she rubbed against Avery’s hand.

“Sorry, Akko,” Avery said, offering a sad smile.  “This one works well with dual blade wielders.  It’s in her pedigree.”

Akko frowned.  Her eyebrows knit together as she stared, confused, at the pair before her.  “But I use dual blades.”

“Uh.”  Avery rose, stepping back.  The calico rocked back onto its hind legs and pawed at her greaves, chirping happily.  “Sure you do.”

Akko sighed, rising back to her feet to glance around her.  It had only been a couple of minutes and yet Hunters were already being paired off with their very own palicoes.  O’Neill was clearly getting along well with the ginger she’d selected, who was draped around her shoulders and batting at her wild red hair.  Constanze was analyzing a tuxedo, who stood alertly at her side and watched as she went over its basic statistics, finger running down the clipboard that England held in her hands.  In the shade of the awning, Cavendish sat cross-legged with a long-haired white Persian already curled into her lap and snoozing peacefully.

In fact, Akko didn’t see _any_ palicoes that weren’t already engaged with another Hunter.  She frowned, turning in a circle to try to spot one that could be hers.  This couldn’t be right.  She made her way over to England, bouncing impatiently on her toes as she waited for Constanze to finish her consultation.  When the smaller girl was finally finished, Akko leapt forward.

“There seems to be a mistake,” Akko blurted.

England looked up, brushing a sweaty strand of auburn hair out of her eyes with the back of her pen.  “Pardon?”

“My palico must still be on the way from Astera.”  Akko glanced around.  Ironsi was tossing a gleeful Bengal in the air.  She whipped out her insect glaive, whirling gracefully while shooting a kinsect low to the ground.  The Bengal pounced, rolling onto its back and kicking at the kinsect with its back paws as it chomped at the wings.

“No, they’re all here.  Inventory was completed last night,” England stated in a very matter-of-fact tone.  She looked down at her clipboard, tapping her pen along each bulleted palico.  “There should be a couple more.  Maybe they’ve wandered off a little and—”

But whatever she was about to say was cut off by the loud yowls of angry cats, by hissing and spitting and the sounds of claws meeting skin as the scuffle grew physical.  Both Akko and England’s heads snapped up and turned in the direction of the hut, where the commotion was taking place.

“The hell?” O’Neill muttered from where she stood, her ginger perched happily on her shoulder.

Akko took a deep breath and crept toward the hut.  Cavendish had picked up her white palico and backed away from the loud noises coming from inside, holding the fluffy cat close to her chest as she eyed the opening to the dark shelter with a curious glint in her blue eyes.

In the shelter.  Of _course!_ Akko had though that all the palicoes would be outside, equally excited to meet the Hunters with whom they would become life-long companions, but she should have known that others would be seeking any form of refuge from the bright sun and the searing heat of the Waste.  She crept forward, lowering to her knees to crawl beneath the awning.  The door inside the hut was small, far too small for a human to fit inside, and so Akko brought herself to the ground and low-crawled until just her head was inside.

There were two palicoes.  One tortoiseshell was standing with its back arched, the fur of its tail bristling out like a wire-brush as a low grumble of a threatening meow built in its throat.  Next to it was another ginger, long-haired and huge, its massive frame taking up nearly the entire side of the small building.  It seemed much calmer than the tortoiseshell but was pacing back and forth, its tail swishing hard with anger.  Occasionally he would stop and hiss loudly with his large ears, topped with a tuft of fur, pinning back against his head.

But they didn’t seem to be fighting _each other_.

And that’s when Akko saw her.

She was hard to see through the dark shadows that concealed the corner of the hut.  And, in all honestly, Akko likely wouldn’t have seen her had it not been for the bright green eyes that stared out from behind the other two palicoes, filled with fear and unease.  At the sight of Akko she started to move.  Cautiously, her paws slowly lifted her off the ground as she made an attempt to sneak by the two other cats that were causing the loud ruckus.

The ginger hissed, spat.  Upon seeing the little black cat start to move he lunged forward, his paws slamming against the smaller palico in an endless assault of claws and flying fur.  The black palico squeaked, shrinking back into the corner where she froze once more, just as the tortoiseshell moved forward to bop her two good times on the head.

“Hey!” Akko screamed, reaching into the hut to whack at the two cats.  “Knock it off!  Leave her alone!”

The large ginger cat turned, his yellow eyes falling on Akko with a look of complete disregard.  He slowly turned, his tail sashaying with aloof confidence as he merely hopped through one of the open windows and trotted into the bright summer sun.

The tortoiseshell merely retreated to the other corner, where she plopped down and began grooming herself, feigning disinterest in what was happening but keeping a watchful eye nonetheless.

The little black cat crouched low in the corner, trying desperately to blend in with the wall.  Her green eyes fell, wide and frightened, on Akko.

“It’s alright,” Akko cooed, turning her hand palm up in an attempt to ease the scared palico.  “Everything’s okay, they’ll leave you alone now.  Come here.”

A few moments passed.  Akko wasn’t sure the little cat would move, fearing she was far too scared to come out of the shadow of her corner.  But, finally, she rose.  Her head hung low, tail dragging on the ground as she hesitantly stepped toward the Hunter.

“I won’t hurt you,” Akko said in her most reassuring voice.  “Come on out.”

Finally, after the passing of long minutes where Akko could sense the eyes of her peers glaring down on her, the palico emerged from the hut.  She stayed low to the ground, eyes darting around in paranoid fear, expecting the other cats to come after her at any moment.

The orange cat stepped from around the hut, his head held high.  When he saw the little black cat had come out from hiding, he let out a long hiss and started to lunge.

The black palico leapt forward, nearly knocking Akko over backwards as she wrapped herself around Akko’s shoulder.  Claws dug into Akko’s skin and scratched at the front of her leather cuirass, but Akko didn’t care.  She quickly stood, one hand finding the quivering palico’s back to hold her tight as she kicked at the large orange cat.  “Get out of here, you jerk!” she shouted.

Akko stepped back, away from the prying eyes of the other Hunters and the two lone palicoes that felt the need to display dominance, and lowered herself to the ground with the little black cat.  After a little bit of coaxing, the palico released her tight grip on Akko’s body and relaxed into her arms, purring loudly, though Akko knew it was more from fear than content.

“It’s alright, little one,” Akko said, running a hand over the cat’s back.  Her fur was rough and dirty and her spine could easily be felt beneath Akko’s inspecting fingertips.  One of her ears was torn, an old injury, but fresh blood could be seen on her neck where the orange cat had clearly clawed her.  Tufts of fur were missing here and there, making her look like a patchwork children’s plush that had seen the better part of a decade.  She was in a sad state.  As Akko stroked her, the little cat lifted large, pretty green eyes to meet her own.  The fear was gone.  “I won’t let them hurt you,” Akko murmured.

England was making her way over to Akko.  She dropped to a knee alongside the pair, oblivious to the fact that she’d spooked the palico, who quickly buried her head in the spot between Akko’s cuirass and her bare arm.  Her whiskers tickled, but Akko stifled a giggle, not wanting to scare the palico with any sudden movements.

“So, I don’t think this is a good choice for you,” England said, head cocking to the side as she looked at the little palico.  “You use dual blades, right?  The trainer remarked that his palico is better fit with somebody who uses a ranged weapon.  Her pedigree shows that, as well.  Her father’s Hunter used the Bowgun.  Her mother’s Hunter used the Insect Glaive.”  She ran her pen down the stats of the cat.  “No, no.”  She shook her head.  “Wrong for you.  Your best match would be that ginger.”  She lifted her pen, pointing to the large ginger who had seated himself beneath the awning and was swishing his fluffy tail back and forth along the sand, watching Akko and the black palico with bored eyes.

Akko stared at the large ginger.  He had been exactly what she’d dreamed of, what she’d pictured as her companion.

“I’m not having a bully as a palico,” Akko said quickly, clutching the timid black cat tighter to her lap.  “Someone else can have him.  Not me.”

England frowned.  “Look, Kagari, I understand your desire to show ‘good will to all’ or whatever your modus operandi is, especially after yesterday’s show, but being a member of the Commission isn’t about that.  It’s about survival, and I’m supposed to help you put your best foot forward to keep you safe.  I can’t let you choose a palico who—”

“I don’t care,” Akko snapped.  She stumbled awkwardly to her feet, clutching the little black palico to her chest.  “I don’t know what a modus oper-whatever is, but I’m not going to have a palico who finds confidence in beating up the innocent.  I choose her,” Akko said, one hand running down the back of the palico.  “And if she chooses me, I’ll have her.”

The palico, as if understanding, scooted up in Akko’s arms.  Her paws found each side of Akko’s shoulders, claws digging deep as she lifted herself and rubbed her cheek against Akko’s.  She was purring now, a real purr, and she clambered up onto the shoulders of Akko’s ill-fitting armor and perched proudly.

England sighed.  She ran a palm over her eyes, taking a deep breath before lowering her pen to the clipboard once more.  “Alright, then.  Get yourself killed.  Name?”

Akko blinked.  Cocked her head.  “Akko Kagari.  You know that.”

“No.”  England shook her head.  “Not you, idiot.  Your palico.  We have to register her to you.”

“Oh.”  Akko grew silent for a moment, her fingers moving to cup her chin as she narrowed her eyes in thought.  “Uh…”  She looked up, met the green eyes of the little black cat, and said, “Jiji.”

“Jiji?”

The black palico butted her head against Akko’s, the purr rattling in her chest growing ever louder.

“Yes,” Akko said, letting a smile creep across her face as she reached up and scratched the palico’s neck.  The rumble of purrs made the cat’s skin quiver under her fingers.  “Jiji.”

“Alright, Jiji it is,” England muttered, jotting down the name before stalking off to the rest of the B-Listers.

Akko plucked her palico off her shoulder and held her out in front of her.  It was not the palico she imagined, not the partner she’d always dreamt herself with.  But nothing seemed to be going to plan for her, anyway.  At least she had a palico.  A palico of her very own.

“Yup,” Akko echoed, a whisper hidden behind the hint of a smile.  “Jiji it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> time to get started on this gargantuan baby ;)


	3. An Underwhelming Hunt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "the battle" : harry gregson-williams

**** Jiji was sleeping peacefully, curled up at the top of Akko’s pillow with her face rested between her paws.  Occasionally her delicate ears, one torn in a V nock at the top, twitched in response to whatever interaction she was having in her own little world of dreams.  The tip of her tail tickled at Akko’s arm, swishing up and down against the skin in a comforting rhythm.

Akko was not asleep.  Her eyes were locked on the thatch ceiling mere feet from her head, flicking to tiny slits where the moonlight managed to penetrate into the darkness of the barracks.  She could hear the gentle snores and soft breaths of her teammates, the far off cries of wingdrakes and other creatures that roamed just beyond the adobe walls of Luna Nova.  Sweat coated her body even in the darkness and she’d kicked her thin military-grade blanket to the end of her bunk. It hadn’t helped. The air was stagnant and seemed to press down on her lungs with each deep, shallow breath she took.

She rolled over, ignoring how her sheets clung to the sweat that coated her legs and soaked through the back of her t-shirt, and let her clammy hand fall onto Jiji’s thin side.  Black whiskers twitched in response as her yellow eyes flicked open from beneath one of her paws, purrs rumbling through her body at the soft contact, at the gentle stroking of Akko’s fingers over her patched and messy fur.

“I’ll be back,” Akko whispered, letting her lips brush against the little felyne’s neck as she slowly pushed herself up on her bunk.  “You keep sleeping, okay?”

Jiji’s head lifted, cocked to the side in confusion and curiosity as she watched her hunter trying to sidle down the side of her bunk without making any noise or disturbing Avery, who slept just below.  Akko crept quietly, carefully wrapping her toes around each rung over the ladder as she moved slowly until her bare feet hit the sand-packed floor with the softest thud. The little palico rose, stretching her paws forward and yawning as her back arched in an attempt to shake off the slumber that she’d been woken from.  She padded to the edge of the bed and leapt deftly off, landing silently on the ground at Akko’s feet and peering up at her hunter with wide yellow eyes and a thin, twitching tail.

“No, Jiji,” Akko whispered, kneeling before her tiny palico.  “You stay here. Keep sleeping. I’ll be back soon.”

Jiji shook her head, rising onto her back paws as her soft pads kneaded at Akko’s arms.  Her mouth opened in a silent meow, a protest of being left, and her tail curled at the end in quiet defiance.

“Fine,” Akko said, passing her palm gently over the felyne’s back.  “But you have to stay quiet, okay?”

Jiji nodded, trotting in a small circle around Akko’s feet as her hunter reached carefully into the leather satchel that hung from her bedpost.  Akko closed her hand around the cold vial of the Vigorwasp gel and pulled it free, turning to look down at her curious palico once more with a defiant tilt of her chin in the direction of the barracks doors.

The hinges let out a quiet creak of protest as Akko slowly pushed the door open.  She froze, Jiji’s steps pausing at her side with one paw lifted, just as the rustling of sheets from the nearest bunk filled the silence of the room.

“Where you going?” Jasminka whispered from her bunk, her voice laced with sleep.  Her eyes were barely open, squinting at both Akko and her little palico in a way that showed she was barely registering what was happening.

“Pee,” Akko replied.  Jiji nodded at her side, lowering her paw and jigging from side to side.

Luckily, all Jasminka did was let out a sleepy grunt of acknowledgment before rolling over once more.  When Akko was sure the girl had gone back to sleep and nobody else had woken up, she slipped through the small opening of the door, Jiji weaving between her legs, and shut it as quietly as she could.

Akko had seen the Waste at night before, but never after curfew and never once all the lights and torches speckling the small village had been extinguished.  The only guiding light was the waxing moon above, casting a pale glow over the buildings and spanning a city-scape of shadows across the flat sand. Stars shone bright above, glistening reminders of far-off worlds that, maybe, one day, the Commission would seek to occupy.  But for now the goal was the New World, was the unexplored continent that spread out far beyond the crags and ridges that towered overhead like dark monoliths, and the Commission was occupied.

Akko crept down the crudely crafted wooden stairs that led to the market square, her bare feet padding in relative silence along with Jiji’s soft paws at her side.  She was well aware of the patrols that happened during the evening, though the hunters assigned to fireguard were more often pacing the lengthy perimeters of Luna Nova in vigilance of outside threat.  She could see the passing shadow of one of the guards far across the market square but knew she was well out of view as she crept along the walls of Lynian huts and market shops that were closed with drapes of Aptonoth hide.  Worker palicoes were asleep on their beds of straw, their chests rising and falling in deep slumber, completely unaware of the pair that sidled by in cautious quiet, hidden within the shadows.

She could see the outline of the Legiana as she moved closer to the research center.  It lay still on its platform, its brilliant blue scales glistening beneath wavering tendrils of moonlight.  It was still alive, its massive barrel swaying with the slow, hitched breaths of pained sleep. Tattered and torn wings were still drawn taut between the posts, though now they hung limp as the energy drained from the neglected monster.  The fanned horns flapped listlessly in an attempt to ward away a group of vespoids that buzzed overhead in hopes of a meal.

Akko’s hands found the wooden rail that she had stood at only days before, when Hanbridge had given them the class on monster strengths and weaknesses.  Where she had stood the moment she first saw the Legiana, saw the pain and misery that the Commission was inflicting on the tortured being. She was quiet, but the Legiana’s sharp ears must have either picked up her sound or the vibrations of her feet on the ground.  Its eyelids flickered lazily open, yellow glare sharp with both fear and hatred as its eyes fell on Akko.

Jiji danced to the side, her back arching and puffing in response to the sight of the monster.  Her mouth spread wide with a warning hiss, ears pinning flat against the back of her head and her tail bristling in an attempt to make her small body look bigger and more threatening.

“Shh, Jiji,” Akko warned, her index finger finding her lips in a sign to keep quiet.  Clutching the Vigorwasp gel tightly in her hand, she slid through the rails of the fence and eased herself onto the platform, her movements slow and calculated so as not to scare the great monster.  One of Jiji’s paws swiped after her, catching the sleeve of her t-shirt, which tore under the pressure of sharp claws.

Akko turned slowly and gently scratched the side of Jiji’s chin.  “It’s okay, Ji. She won’t hurt me. Promise.”

But Jiji seemed unconvinced.  She stayed beyond the fence, prowling back and forth, her yellow eyes never leaving Akko as her Hunter moved closer to the Legiana.

The Legiana’s small nostrils puffed an icy breath as Akko neared.  Its mouth opened as far as it could, sharp fangs glistening, eyes narrowing in a threat that could not be acted upon.

“It’s okay,” Akko reassured in a hushed whisper.  “It’s me, remember?”

She dropped to a knee, ignoring the sting of tiny pieces of gravel as they buried into her skin, and extended an arm.  Her fingers gently brushed against the soft scales of the Legiana’s muzzle, drawing back only slightly with the sharp flare of a nostril and flinch of fear, before stroking down the side of the once graceful monster’s face.  Its eyes seemed to soften beneath the kind touch and from its mouth came a gurgling noise, a wheezing rumble that Akko soon recognized as a purr.

Jiji had hopped down from the platform.  She walked slowly over, her tiny paws moving in a calculated stop-and-start rhythm as she eased closer.  Her ears flicked to and fro in both curiosity and fear with the motion of her tail. She came to a stop at Akko’s side, leaning slowly forward to sniff at the Legiana’s muzzle before, in one smooth motion as though she’d fully accepted Akko’s unabashed intimacy with the enemy, head-butted the monster in an affectionate rub.  Her own purrs rolled in her throat and she sat down and got to work, sandpaper tongue moving around the sores covering the Legiana’s face and neck.

“Good girl, Ji,” Akko said.  She popped the cork off the vial of vigorwasp gel and lowered to both knees, crawling forward to get a better view of the oozing wounds she had seen the other day.  The chains were still taut against its flesh, pressing deep into bruised skin and scales. She leaned over the monster, careful not to touch any sores or move too quickly, and inspected her makeshift patient.

But just as she was about to uncork the vial and pour out some vigorwasp gel, she caught a glimpse of a glint of green, the shimmer of moisture coating the lines of wounds and deep cuts.  And, as Akko looked closer, she noticed that the injuries were no longer leaking blood or pus. No, they seemed to be healing, as though someone was doing exactly what  _ she _ intended to do.

She tentatively pressed a finger to the goo that was coated to the monster’s bright blue scales.  She lifted it to her nose and sniffed curiously.

It was vigorwasp gel.

Somebody had gotten there first.  And, based on how the gel hadn’t yet dried, it hadn’t been long before her.

Akko sat back on her heels, one hand running affectionately down the side of the Legiana’s barrel as she glanced around the darkness.  But there was no sign of life within the village. Only the comforting sounds of nature beyond the walls, the sound of sand drifting and echoing through hollow cliffsides in a refreshing breeze.  She was surrounded by shadows, by silence, by stillness.

Akko turned back to the Legiana, a smile etching its way across her face as she crouched in close.

“It seems I’m not the only one that cares,” she said, finally noticing that the razors, too, had been cut from the wire that surrounded the wyvern’s muzzle.  She let out a long sigh—of relief, of content—before rising and making her way through the shadows back to the barracks. Jiji trotted along behind her Hunter’s quick, excited steps, eager to get back to sleep on the pillow she’d claimed for herself.

But, for Akko, sleep wouldn’t come.  She lay awake once more, watching as the thin streams of moonlight peeking through the thatch roof gave way to the orange glow of dawn and her teammates began to wake, one by one.  Jiji had fallen right back asleep, curled on the side of Akko’s pillow with one paw resting on her shoulder.

She would be exhausted the next day.  She would slog her way through training, through classes, through whatever it was that Hanbridge had planned.  But it didn’t matter.

Somebody else agreed with her.

Somebody else cared about the Legiana.

About the cruelty.

That was all that mattered.

* * *

“Ouch!” Akko snipped when she felt a pin jab into the skin of her hip.  She scooted to the side, palm rubbing at the location of the offense as she frowned at the Lynian helping the Smithy.  “Sorry,” she muttered, knowing full well that she’d have to get her measurements once more. “Wasn’t expecting that.”

“I apologize,” the Lynian woman chirped, ushering Akko back where she had been previously standing to begin measuring the width of her hips once more.  “Sometimes my hands slip. My, you have such narrow hips. Definitely not made for childbirth, as it is.”

“Maybe that’s why I joined the Commission,” Akko grumbled, rolling her eyes and catching Jiji’s wide yellow eyes that stared up at her from below.  “To escape the burden of childbirth. If only there was surgery that would make me feel more like the woman I’m expected to be.”

“Well, that’s not to say you could never have children,” the Lynian continued, completely ignoring Akko’s dripping sarcasm.  She darted to the other side and moved the measuring tape up Akko’s ribs, nudging her to lift her arms a bit higher as she went.  “A caesarian section may be the best option, though. It would be something to discuss with your future husband.”

“Oh, right, my husband,” Akko murmured, trying to hold back a laugh as Jiji grabbed her lips with her paws and stretched them into a wide, goofy smile.  “I really hope I live long enough through my trials as a B-List Hunter to find a suitable husband that supports a C-section.”

The Lynian huffed, stepping back and shaking her head as she eyed Akko’s nude body.  “The breasts, as well. Would be difficult to feed naturally. Well, you certainly weren’t made for being a mother, were you?”  She moved back in, closing the tape hard around Akko’s chest.

Akko looked down, watching the tape wrap over her nipples.  “Bummer. I asked Santa every day for big ol’ boobs and all I got was these.  If only I had been more blessed by estrogen.” She added a dramatic, exaggerated sigh.

“Well, we can’t all—Elders, I asked you to keep your palico clean!  It’s very difficult to get palico armor measurements as it is, and now I’ll have to get filthy while I do it.”

Jiji had flopped over onto her back and was rolling happily in the sand, coating her black fur in red dust.  Her tail flicked back and forth as she tilted her head up, mewling as her body twisted and turned. As the Lynian spoke, she made a point of dropping onto her side and clawing her way across the ground, thoroughly ensuring every single spot was covered.

As the Lynian cursed and grabbed a brush to begin running over a writhing Jiji, Akko’s attention fell on the A-Listers.  Only Ironsi was getting measured for new armor. O’Neill leaned against a post nearby, rapping a stick against her greaves and kicking sand into a pile as she waited.  Cavendish was seated on a crude bench, bare hands resting on her knees as she stared straight ahead as though lost in her own thoughts.

Frank wasn’t present.  There was the whole, “Male hunters don’t need to see female hunters nude.  The last thing we need is distraction from the task at hand.” Verbatim quote: Admiral Croix.

Akko huffed, tapping the toe of her cloth slippers against the sand as she folded her arms across her chest and waited.  The Lynian was still running off at the mouth about anything and everything. Her own failed attempt at having children (“You humans just don’t understand the rate of miscarriage for us Lynians!”), how weird she found human bodies, how she didn’t understand why she had to be sent to Luna Nova instead of continuing her work with the Smithy at Astera.

Akko knew exactly why she was sent to Luna Nova.  The Smithy probably didn’t want to hear her anymore.  In actuality, she was surprised that  _ this  _ Smithy hadn’t picked her small body up and tossed her into the forge, but then again he seemed to completely tune out the continued jabbering of his helper as he quietly took the hastily written measurements and began to craft the equipment.

Her eyes strayed back to the A-Listers.  Ironsi was already slipping into her new cuirass, tugging at the stiff leather of the straps to tighten everything to her frame.  Her own palico was already wearing his own brand new armor, which hugged his thin body. The tiny piece of leather ended just past his ribs so as not to interfere with his hind legs.  His long tail, cream but dark at the tip, flicked back and forth as he turned each way to see the new outfit.

Jiji, too, was staring with a hint of envy in her flashing yellow eyes.

“I’m unsure how you were even able to function in these boots you were wearing,” the Lynian was saying, shaking her head as she lifted the too-large boots and inspected the specks of blood that had flaked the insides from rubbing against Akko’s blisters.  “An absolute disgrace that they expect you to maximize your abilities with gear such as this. I’ll have to ensure we have a variety of sizes in our inventory for cases like yours. Though,” she leaned down, squinting at Akko’s feet, “you do have very strange feet.  Much too arched. Are toes supposed to fold over like that?”

Akko rolled her eyes, letting out a long sigh that she hoped showed how completely fed up she was.  She let her gaze wander once more, away from the Lynian inspecting her feet as though they were the Eighth Wonder of the Old World, and found Cavendish.

Who was staring at her.

Self-consciousness flooded Akko’s body as she realized that those blue eyes were settled on her.  She hugged her torso tighter, turning at an angle so that Cavendish couldn’t see the Body that Just Kept Getting Stranger and diverting her eyes quickly back down to the Lynian, who was measuring her feet down to the length of her toes.  For once, she was grateful for the heat, grateful for how red her skin was from the scorching rays of the sun and the burn that seemed to refresh every time she stepped into the light. Her eyes fluttered away, only to glance back a second later to find that Cavendish had averted her own eyes.  She was hunched down, elbows buried into her thighs as she focused intently on the Persian palico that was laying obediently on her feet.

Of course, Cavendish didn’t need to be fitted for armor.  Hers was already perfect. It hugged her tall, thin frame perfectly, complimenting her curves and showing just the right amount of skin in all the right places--

Akko swallowed.  Hard.

She felt claws against her calf and looked down to find Jiji staring back up at her, ears flicking back and forth as she tried to analyze the sudden change in her hunter’s behavior.

The Lynian, nosy as she was, had followed Akko’s attention.  As she wrapped the new leather cuirass around Akko’s body, pulling it tight and jostling Akko without regard for her balance, she nodded her approval in the blonde hunter’s direction.  “Ah, now there’s a fine specimen of a human,” she said, turning back to Akko as she roughly coaxed the leather to mold and fit to the curves (or lack of?) of Akko’s body. “If only all of you were made that way.  But, alas, your species has shortfalls much like my own.”

“Must suck to be one of them,” Akko mumbled under her breath.  Though, she definitely should have taken into account the fact that Lynians had very large ears and extra good hearing, because the glare that was sent her way was followed by a very sharp, very deliberate needle to the ribs.

* * *

 

“Elders,” Akko heard Avery grumble from the bottom bunk.  “What the hell is going on this early in the damn morning?”

Akko groaned in response, not quite ready for words at the un-Elderly hour that it was, and rolled over on her bunk.  Jiji shifted on her pillow, covering her face with her paws and ignoring the movement of her hunter and the sleepy words coming from below.

Moonlight was still streaming through the thatch roof.  Not a single sign of daybreak. In fact, Akko was pretty certain she had only climbed into her bunk and fallen asleep a mere couple of hours ago.  She could hear the rustling of sheets around her as the rest of her team stirred, could hear the gentle plop of Avery’s feet against the ground as she climbed out of her own bed.

“Probably just wingdrakes mating,” Akko replied, her voice tinted with sleep.  She tried to force her eyes open but failed and simply lay on her back, awake but not awake, processing but not processing.  “They were ou’ there going at it las’ night, shoulda seen the--” whatever she had meant to say ended in an unintelligible grumble.

But Avery was unconvinced.  Akko felt the other girl’s hand on her shoulder and snorted back awake with the sudden jostle, sitting up much to the disdain of a happily slumbering Jiji.  “What?” she asked, rubbing her eyes with the backs of her fists. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Just go back to sleep. Hanbridge said we had to be up early and I kinda went to bed late.”

“That’s your own fault,” Jasminka said from across the small barracks room.  “You’re the one that stayed up trying to teach Jiji a secret handshake.”

At the mention of the handshake, Jiji let out a soft mewl.  She presented her paw to Akko, who simply stared at it before saying, “Shit, sorry Ji.  I forgot it already.”

Avery was making her way to the double wooden doors that led to the small lane just across from the A-Lister barracks.  There was a gap between the two doors, small but just enough to peek through, and she pressed her face up to the splintered wood and looked out.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” came the sharp voice of their Handler.  Hannah had climbed out of her bunk and was standing with her hands on her hips, glancing around the dark barracks at Avery, who was unabashedly eavesdropping, and the rest of the Hunters who had come to full attention as the noises from outside became louder.  Much louder. Words, easily distinguishable as, “hunt” and “safety” and—

Great Jagras?

“It’s the A-Listers,” Avery whispered, turning to stare over her shoulder.  Constanze was awake now, too. She’d clambered to her feet, grabbing her bowgun as though a threat lie just beyond the doors.  “And Hanbridge,” she added.

“What?” Jasminka clambered up and joined Avery, peeking through the crack above the shorter girl’s head with ease.  “What are they doing up this early?”

It wasn’t long before Akko had lowered herself from the top bunk and had joined the rest of her team.  She nudged Avery, anxious to see what all the commotion about, anxious to know what it was that the A-Listers had up their sleeves hours before dawn.  “Lemme in,” Akko whispered, surprised by how quickly Avery complied as she stepped aside to let Akko see.

It was dark outside, but the torch clutched in Hanbridge’s hand lit the faces of the four hunters, the Handler, and the Researcher who had arranged in a perfect line before him.  They were all in their gear, weapons slung behind their backs as they stood at attention, quietly listening to the team leader with an aura of both excitement and, well, exhaustion.  Frank stifled a yawn.

“The Great Jagras that has been threatening the borders of Luna Nova was last sighted to the east, close to the swamps and hiding in the shade of the canyons.  It is your mission to find and—”

Cavendish cleared her throat and stepped forward.  Ever poised, even through the exhaustion that could be seen in the half-moons beneath her bright eyes.  “Pardon me, but aren’t Great Jagras native to the Ancient Forest? What is one doing in the Waste?”

“That’s exactly the issue,” Hanbridge replied, seemingly unperturbed by the interruption.  “Great Jagras rarely venture into the Waste. And this one has been notably aggressive. That’s why I want you to find this monster and bring him back to us—alive.  It’s imperative that we research the behavior that brought the Jagras into a habitat that is ultimately unsustainable for its kind.”

“Probably just lost,” O’Neill replied through a yawn.  “Plus, didn’t you say it’s aggressive? Probably be better to just kill it.”

Ironsi nodded her agreement, but Hanbridge shook his head and turned to gaze off to the east—to the direction where the Great Jagras was suspected to be—and took a moment of lingering silence before answering.

“It’s uncharacteristic for a Jagras to attempt to breach the walls of a settlement.  They’re not aggressive unless provoked. Something is wrong with this one. Besides, these orders come from Commander Chariot herself.  And if you want to hold your position as an A-Lister--” Although Akko could only see the back of the team leader, she could sense his focus on O’Neill. “--then you may want to execute your mission as intended.”

“They’re going on a  _ real _ hunt?” Avery moaned, perhaps a bit too loud for their proximity to the A-Listers and Hanbridge.  “That’s such Barroth shit.”

“Well, they are A-Listers,” Jasminka started to reason, but halted as with the glares of both Akko, Avery, and Constanze.  “Though, yeah. Lame. We should be going, too.”

“There’s a reason you’re B-Listers,” Hannah pointed out, stepping forward into the thin stream of moonlight that broke through a hole in the roof.  “Commander Chariot and Admiral Croix made the decision that you weren’t strong enough as hunters to go out and succeed in missions such as these. I’d suggest you all stop complaining and get back to sleep.  We, too, have a mission tomorrow, and so it would be wise to get plenty of rest.”

“Right,” Akko grumbled, rolling her eyes and watching as the rest of her team dispersed.  “I can’t wait to clean the latrines.”

Akko didn’t want to believe a word of what Hannah said.  She didn’t want to think that she wasn’t good enough, that she wasn’t  _ capable  _ enough.  She looked to her bunk, where Jiji was standing at attention, her tail held high and flicking back and forth.  When Akko met her gaze, she offered a soft, soothing meow.

She climbed back onto her hard mattress, covered herself with her thin, itchy sheet, and settled back against the lumpy pillow as Jiji nestled herself into the crook of her arm.

She was good enough.  Or, she  _ would  _ be good enough, even if the others didn’t see it.

One day, she would be alongside the A-Listers.  She would be awake before dawn prepping for a mission passed directly from the Commander.

One day, she would be fighting the good fight—the fight she came to Luna Nova for—and nobody would doubt her any longer.

* * *

 

“O’Neill, please keep it down,” Diana hissed for what felt like the hundredth time.  “If we want to capture this Great Jagras, we absolutely must catch it off guard.”

“Yeah,  _ O’Neill _ ,” mocked Wangari.  “Keep it down.”

Diana sighed, ignoring the two other girls as they continued to laugh and snicker under their breath about Elders-knew-what.  Instead, her gaze scanned the horizon. They had been out for over two hours, and dawn was just beginning to break in the east, spilling golden rays of first light over the harsh and inhospitable Waste.  The sun glimmered over the murky waters of the swamp, where Gajau leapt into the air and splashed back into the reeds, enjoying the warmth of the new day.

Behind her, she was fully aware of Wangari shoving Amanda toward the edge of the low ledge they were walking on, threatening to send her tumbling into the swamp.  She whirled, blue eyes flashing in a warning glare.

“Guys,” Frank said, his voice level as he pulled to a stop and shook his head.  “Come on. This is our first mission. We fail at this, and the Commander is going to completely re-evaluate the team.”

Wangari backed off, rolling her eyes but listening nonetheless as she fell back into line.  Amanda rolled her shoulders in a shrug, straightening a strap on her cuirass that had gone awry with the shove and readjusting the greatsword on her back.

“Alright, alright,” Amanda grumbled.  “Still think it’s stupid our palicoes couldn’t come, though.”

“Too dangerous for a first outing,” Frank stated, quoting Hanbridge verbatim.  “They need time outside the base without a threat.”

They listened to Frank.  Diana didn’t understand why—he wasn’t much different than she was.  He asked them to quiet down in the same level tone she had, and yet they had completely ignored her warning as their leader.  She hadn’t been prepared for this. No, not at all. For years, she had trained to become the Commission hunter that her family had destined her to be.  She’d chosen the longsword, just as her mother had before her and her grandmother before that, and focused only on being the best. At reaching her physical peak and breaking through each plateau life had to offer.  And she had mastered skills beyond what had been required of a hunter: biology, research, the history of the Commission and the future it held.

By day, she and her wooden longsword became one, arcing and twisting and slashing away at the dummies in the professional-grade training yard her parents had built long before she was born.  She flew over obstacles, rolled from wooden pillars that fell and pierced at random to offer difficulty to an otherwise monotone task. She learned her strengths and weaknesses and perfected her strongest abilities.  She fought through the blisters of wood grinding against bare hands, of oversized leather biting into her skin, of the aches and pains of throbbing muscles after a hard day’s work.

And when night fell, when her Aunt called her back to the manor where she would rack her training sword and hang the armor that she hadn’t yet grown into, she would toil away in the library.  Hovering over books, over beakers, over the diagrams of both monsters and Elders alike that lined her parents’ old study. She studied everything that she could get her hands on, from the basic diet of monsters both small and large to the genealogy of the Elders and the effects of the elements on each and every one.  In her eyes, she wasn’t fighting to become a member of the Commission.

No, she was destined to be.  Like her father, like her mother, like the line of Cavendish before her.

It was her calling.

Yet nothing had prepared her for this moment.

Nothing had prepared her for teammates that wouldn’t listen, for teammates that had minds of their own and personalities much different from hers.  Teammates who laughed and joked their way through the day, teammates that decided what was best without even consulting her. Teammates… like Amanda and Wangari.

Frank, at least, was level-headed.  He fell into stride beside her as they walked, their leather boots barely a whisper against the hard-packed red sand.  Beside them, dimpled and pock-marked canyons rose and arced into the sky, casting dark shadows that offered little respite from the heat of the oncoming morning.  She could already feel sweat trickling down the small of her back, dripping from the strands of blonde that fell loose from her ponytail. And out here, away from Luna Nova, the blazing heat only seemed more oppressive.  She reached to her side and unclipped her canteen, tilting it to her mouth in a quick swallow. The water was warm as it washed down her throat, but refreshing nonetheless.

“Stop for a moment,” Lotte whispered from ahead.  The Handler turned, one small hand lifted for emphasis as she knelt to the ground right as the path curved to a hard left.  Sucy pushed up from the back of the group, one hand resting on the belt that held her absurd amount of concoctions and potions as she joined the short, ginger-haired Handler.

“Prints,” the lavender-haired girl murmured as she, too, knelt.  The two were quiet for a moment, both indulging in their own analysis of the print that none of the Hunters had the privilege of seeing, until finally Sucy added, “Kulu.”

“You sure?” Lotte asked, her voice low as she looked up to meet the red eyes of the Researcher.  “Seems a bit large for a Kulu, doesn’t it?”

Sucy shook her head.  “Mature Kulu. A Great Jagras would leave more of an impression on the heel.  Kulu are naturally toe-runners, hence the depth of the claw marks.” She rocked back onto her heels, nodding with finality that Lotte had no choice but to agree with.

“Hey, guys?”

Amanda’s voice was loud from behind.  Too loud. Diana pinched the bridge of her nose and lowered her head with a sigh, wishing that the Elders had blessed her with teammates that actually cared about the success of the mission and, more importantly, their own safety.

“We’re looking for, like, a big lizard, yeah?”

“If you had bothered to pay attention in our lessons,” Diana started, her voice cautiously low as she huffed and whirled on a heel, “then you would know that’s exactly--”

She froze.

Where the Gajau had once jumped, merry in the morning sun, stood a massive creature.  Emerald green and dull gold scales shimmered in the sunlight, rippling in a flash of bright color with each movement, with each flex of its great muscles.  Long yellow tendrils fell from the top of the monster’s head, shifting, swaying, and slapping against scales as the creature’s massive maw swallowed its meal: two large Gajau.  Its lighter colored belly extended with each bite of its breakfast, dipping into the shallow water of the swamp and sending other Gajau fleeing for where the water grew deeper.

“Do not move,” Diana warned with a whisper, her arms extending to her sides as though in an attempt to hold back the rest of her team.  “Whatever you do, do not move.”

But it was too late.

Sharp yellow eyes had noticed their movement, had heard their voices, had fallen on the group of Commissioners that stood a maximum of fifty meters away.  In one quick swallow, the large fish disappeared down the Great Jagras’s throat. Diana was well aware that the fish would not sate the monster’s hunger. A normal meal for the Great Jagras was an Aptonoth or a Kestodon.  Something larger, something meatier.

Something, perhaps, their size.

Its jaw opened once more, but this time wider, this time piercing the silence of the early morning hours with an ear-deafening roar.  All at once it was running, its powerful legs moving at a pace that Diana didn’t even think possible, carrying the great lizard toward them at a tremendous speed that gave little time for reaction.

But they were trained.  They were Hunters.

They were the A-Listers.

“Preserve its health,” Diana heard herself shout as she drew her sword from her back and leapt from the ledge, falling the short drop to wet sand and moving into a deft roll.  She was well aware of her teammates reacting the same. Of Wangari’s insect glaive slicing through the stagnant air, propelling her forward in a long, practiced flip to land on one knee on the other side of the monster.  Of Amanda, greatsword drawn and standing her ground. Of Frank, whose metal axe whirred into action as his muscular arms flipped the weapon into its extended form.

“Sever the tail but no more,” Diana yelled once more, watching as Amanda ducked away from a charge.  She was slow to move with the massive sword in her hands but experienced nonetheless and brought the wide blade up in a defensive hold across her body.  “We need it alive.”

The Jagras truly was aggressive.  Normally, the massive lizard would mind its own business in the face of armed foes.  Spit frothed at its mouth as it whirled again towards Amanda, its long tail lashing out in Frank’s direction as it clambered up the ledge.  Its belly expanded before deflating once more as it bellowed a long, screeching roar.

Frank leapt over its tail, spinning his arms mid-jump to send the very edge of his axe slicing across the glimmering scales of the Great Jagras.  It was enough to turn the monster’s attention from Amanda and it spun, screeching, and charged again.

“Little help,” Frank called out.  He lashed out with his axe once more but met only air, throwing his entire body off balance.  He tumbled from the ledge, landing hard on his side in the muck where the swamp met the bank.

From above came a blur of light, a rapid flutter of wings.  Wangari lifted her glaive above her head, guiding the kinsect in her control as it dashed through the monster’s long yellow tendrils and through its muscled legs.  The Great Jagras spun in confusion before finding the source of the distraction. It lunged in Wangari’s direction.

“Keep it distracted,” Lotte screamed from where she was working diligently at setting up a trap.  Her hands fumbled over the ropes, somehow struggling to tie the knots that she knew like the back of her hand.  Sucy crouched low beneath a crag, nearly concealed by a dark shadow and sparse foliage as she uncapped vial after vial on her waist belt in preparation for the sedative that would serve to capture the great beast.  “We’re almost ready,” Lotte added.

Diana moved forward, her clammy hands clamped tight around the hilt of her sword as she twisted her wrist and prepared for attack.  Her sword felt light in her grip and it sliced effortlessly through the air around her, whirling and arcing in slow, calculated rhythm.  A sword’s dance.

She would have to be careful.  They were given strict instructions to capture the Great Jagras, not to kill.  The four Hunters framed the writhing and roaring monster like the edges of a square waiting for an attack, waiting for a chance to strike.  Being closest to the trap, Diana would have to guide the great lizard in her direction. Trapping would be their only opportunity for sedation, and Diana was not about to let the object of their mission escape through another route.

“Send him through the chokepoint,” she called out, urging the teammates to force the monster beyond the swamp and through the walls of the canyon.  Once there, he would have no choice but to fall into the net that Lotte was meticulously preparing. Diana glanced over and saw the lines of rope spread across the ground.  Once pulled, they would grow taut around the monster’s legs. He would be unable to move. He would be unable to fight.

The Great Jagras lunged forward in another charge, this time in her direction.  She leapt into the air, barely escaping the slobber-coated fangs that grazed against her greaves, and turned for a strike.  The sharp edge of her blade carved through the monster’s tail but he turned at the last moment, deflecting the possibility of a cut.  Instead, colorful scales flew into the air, glistening in the sun before disappearing beneath the surface of the thin swamp. Blood trickled from where her sword had cut into the meat, but the injury was superficial.  Instead, the Great Jagras was only enraged further and he spun again, his tail striking Diana’s chest in a powerful blow that sent her flying back into the water, into the deep mud that sucked at her boots and her legs and held her prisoner while she struggled to fill her straining lungs with the air that had so suddenly been stolen from her.

The monster was descending on her, its massive lumbering body sending mucky water splashing in every direction.  As it struck, she made the split second decision to roll to the left, a 50/50 chance, and ended up on the living side of the equation.  Her blade flew upwards with the Jagras’s confused stumble and bit deep into his tail, cutting through the hard scales and into the fatty flesh.  She felt the meat giving beneath her hands and strained her muscles to force the sword beyond the resistance of solid substance, beyond exhaustion, and in a flash of silver and a spray of blood the tail fell into the swamp, disappearing into a cluster of reeds where vespoids scattered from the commotion.

“Nice one, Cav,” Amanda called out from somewhere nearby.  The Great Jagras was howling in both pain and anger, swinging to and fro with wild abandon, struggling to hit the Hunters with the now phantom tail.  “I’m sure the researchers will appreciate their subject in two parts.”

The Great Jagras whirled to the redhead and sucked in air, his massive chest swelling as gurgling noises churned in his throat.  In one quick, unexpected turn of events, a long and air-wavering belch filled the swamp and echoed through the high walls of the cavernous Waste.  From its mouth sprayed anything and everything--swamp water, bile, chunks of partially digested Gajau and what looked like the splintered bones of a much larger monster--which arced in a wave of foul goo over the Hunter, drenching her.

Amanda promptly stumbled back, turned to the side, and vomited the remnants of her breakfast onto the bright red sand.

Under any normal circumstance, Wangari likely would have laughed her ass off.  But, considering there was a very real, very large monster standing in front of her, she refrained.  No, laughter would have to wait. Her glaive swirled above her head as she sent her kinsect flying forward once more, stealing the attention of the Jagras as she peppered it with a series of weak attacks.  The monster rose on its hind legs and whirled, chomping at the kinsect, shaking its long, scaly mane in an attempt to fend off the annoyance. With its eyes fully set on the kinsect, Wangari sprung into action.  She dashed for the ledge, toward the place between the canyon walls where Lotte had set the trap, and guided the monster along with the jerking motions of her glaive’s power.

The Great Jagras lumbered after, jaws snapping in desperation.  To the side, Frank had formed a barrier between the monster, Lotte, and Sucy, his eyes never leaving their prey as he held his axe before him, ready to fend off any stray blows.

One massive foot fell onto the rope.  Then another. And, all at once, the Great Jagras found himself standing on top of the trap that Lotte had built, unaware of the danger ready to spring around him.

But nothing happened.

“Spring the trap,” Wangari yelled, desperately fading beneath the weight of her attack.  Her kinsect was beginning to flutter erratically. “C’mon, hurry up!”

“Oh,” Lotte squeaked, watching as her knots began to unravel beneath the tension of desperately clawing legs.  “Oh no.”

Massive jaws closed around the bright kinsect just as Wangari’s arm fell.  Its light colored chest puffed up once more, skin blossoming and rippling like boiling water as the kinsect sought escape.  Another belch, this time choked and surprised, and the Jagras spit the goo-covered kinsect against the canyon wall, where it fell uselessly into the sand before disappearing entirely.

“Not good,” Lotte was saying as the Jagras whirled on her, Frank, and Sucy.  “I don’t understand, I don’t--”

They had no secondary plan.

Come to think of it, they never had a  _ primary  _ plan.  In hindsight, Diana knew she should have gathered the team and worked out a mission brief on what they were expected to encounter and how they would find success.  But she didn’t. As a leader, it was a tremendous oversight, a  _ failure _ .  But it wasn’t the time to beat herself up.  She had to act, she had to find a way to subdue the angry monster and bring it back to Luna Nova.  Mutilated, yes. But alive. She would not fail. She could not fail. She had to do this for her team, for the Commission.

For her mother.

The mud and water pulled at her boots as she ran, high-kneed, toward the embankment.  Sweat, or swamp water, she wasn’t sure, poured from her temples and fell in rivulets down her sternum.  Exhaustion weighed heavy, made her shoulders sag beneath armor that had been so light only moments before, made her blade hang limp in her hands as she ran.

She hit the embankment, her feet grateful for solid ground, slammed the tip of her blade into the hard sand, and leapt.  Her boots struck the canyon wall, sending rocks and sand tumbling to the ground below. All the while, her eyes remained focused on the Great Jagras, on the monster who was clearly just as tired as she.  Her knees bent, oxygen hit her lungs in a deep, desperate drag of air, and she launched.

Diana had never mounted a monster.  She had never  _ fought  _ a monster.  But she had trained on the rocking and twisting mechanical monsters in her training yard, had upped the difficulty of her endeavor through the tools and equipment that she had been so grateful to have.

It paid off.

The back of the Great Jagras was surprisingly soft as she landed on it with a thud and the loud exhale of her lungs.  She sheathed her sword hastily across her back, one hand finding a waving gold tendril of mane as she struggled to maintain hold, struggled to keep from being bucked off.  Her thighs clamped down hard against the bright scales, the tips of her boots tucking in and hooking into the crevice where the monster’s front legs met its belly.

“Sedative,” Diana called, her arm outstretched as she strained to maintain her position on the monster that was growing more agitated by the moment.  Though tired, it seemed to be summoning more strength with each twist and turn, with each angry bellow and snort. “Quick, give me the sedative!”

Sucy was quick to react.  She dipped beneath Frank’s axe and lunged forward, her hand finding the syringe of pink fluid that she’d holstered on her belt.  Her arm arced through the air as she launched the sedative, which stabbed through the air like a missile.

Right into Diana’s waiting hand.

She barely managed to snag the syringe as the Great Jagras shuddered once more beneath her.  Her fingers closed tightly around it as she brought it in, ripped the hard plastic covering the needle away with her teeth, and slammed the syringe home into the monster’s muscled neck.

But as her thumb punched down hard on the top, driving the fluid into the monster’s body, flooding Great Jagras’s blood with the powerful sedative that would bring him down, Amanda flew forward.  From the corner of her eye, Diana caught the massive sword swinging in a powerful blow over the drenched girl’s head.

She couldn’t catch what Amanda was screaming, but was definitely able to catch the words, “son-of-a-bitch,” and, “stupid ass monster.”

“No, Amanda!” she heard Wangari yell, but it was too late.

The sword swung down just as the Jagras reared up in surprise at the thick needle piercing his neck.  It sliced through scales, through muscle, through hard bone. Blood erupted from a severed artery to paint the sand a dark red.  The Great Jagras staggered and swayed as the blade ripped deeper, disconnecting its head from its body entirely in a clean cut that could have only been achieved through brute strength.  Through anger.

Through a panting, red-faced Amanda who let the blade fall from her hands, splashing into the pool of blood that was rapidly expanding.

Diana rolled to the side as the monster fell, its body limp on the rope netting that Lotte had constructed.  Her wide eyes fell on their prey, on the mission, on the one thing they had been trusted with--

The Great Jagras.

Not captured,

but killed.

* * *

“I can’t believe this,” Akko groaned as she kicked at the sand, squinting into the bright sun as she pressed her palm against her forehead in an attempt to shield herself from the blinding rays.  “The A-Listers get to go on this super cool mission and we’re out here catching dinner.”

“Shut up, Kagari,” Hannah hissed from where she stalked along with the rest of the group, pushing the rickety cart that would later hold the fruit--well, meat--of their endeavors.  Her usually neat auburn ponytail was drenched from the humidity and fell limp around her shoulders. As Akko glanced over, a bead of sweat dripped from the tip of her nose and sizzled into the sand.  “At least you get to venture beyond the camp’s walls. If I had any say, and I  _ do _ , mind you, so don’t even give me that look--”

Akko looked away quickly, biting her lip to keep back the remark she was about to make.

“If I had any say, you’d be back at base scrubbing the dishes.  You don’t need to be out here at all, but I  _ graciously  _ told Hanbridge that you needed the experience.”

“Graciously,” Barbara cut in, nodding.  “She really stood up for you. You should be thankful, Kagari.”

Akko rolled her eyes.  She seriously doubted that the Handler had stood up for her at  _ all _ , much less mentioned that she should accompany the others on their first outing.

Besides, it wasn’t a hunt at all.  Well, kind of. But not the one she was interested in.

“Your team has been tasked with hunting wild Kestodon,” Hanbridge had told them once the entire team (Akko last, of course), had formed up outside the barracks.  The sun was already cresting across the sky, bright and relentless, and the six girls stood with sweat dripping from their brows as he went on. “Luna Nova is running low on supplies, and Astera has made it clear that the caravans will slow as we expand.  We must become self-sufficient, and this starts with you.”

Jiji had sat quietly at her side, rough tongue rasping over her paw as she ignored the Team Leader and the rest of the going-ons.  The rest of the palicoes sat attentive, waiting, obedient at their hunters’ sides.

Akko didn’t  _ blame  _ Jiji for being bored with the mission that was being handed to them.

Elders,  _ she _ was bored with it.

Granted, it was nice to be outside of the base.  Hannah was right. Everything was so open, so free, and seeing the monsters she’d learned about in the wild, in their natural habitat, was like climbing into a television and the world she’d seen from afar opening around her.  As she walked, a small gathering of Kelbi dashed through dry reeds to disappear beyond a high canyon wall. Mernos circled a crag overhead, distant caws announcing their presence as they occasionally dipped down to inspect the ground below for food before ascending once more.  And Akko could have  _ sworn  _ she’d seen the tail of a Kulu-Ya-Ku--a real, live Kulu-Ya-Ku, not Hanbridge in a costume--disappear between two great big bushes that led to something that sounded like a waterfall.

Plus, her armor fit perfectly.  There was no chafing, no blistering, no constant need to readjust.  Though the Lynian had annoyed her (greatly), she had done an excellent job with the measurements.  Finally, Akko felt like a real hunter. A real hunter in armor that fit her figure perfectly. A real hunter in armor that helped her move more fluidly.

A real hunter that was hunting a big, fat, juicy Kestodon steak for that night’s supper.

She sighed.

“Don’t be so down, Kagari,” Avery consoled.  One hand rested on the sheath of her dual blades as she scouted out ahead, ever the leader.  “Everybody has to start somewhere. Besides, Hanbridge trusted us out here by ourselves. That’s kind of a lot, isn’t it?”

Constanze grunted from Akko’s side, nodding in agreement.

Jiji, as it was, seemed happy to finally be working.  She seemed unperturbed by the armor that fit her tiny body snugly, almost as though it had been there the entire time, and padded along at Akko’s side with her tail held high and her ears pricked forward.  The rest of the palicoes were just as obedient, though Avery’s massive calico was perched on the team lead’s shoulders (“The sand is burning her paws,” Avery had said) and seemed completely oblivious to everything that was going on.

“What were the coordinates of the Kestodon herd, again?” Jasminka asked, stopping to stare down at the crudely drawn map that she unrolled in her hands.  It looked like cave art, in Akko’s opinion, and she was honestly baffled as to why nobody in Luna Nova had more artistic talent than that of a two-year-old child.  “He did tell us, right?”

“170800,” Avery answered automatically.  “Northeast of camp. He said they wander, but they don’t stray too far.”

“We’re at around 225780,” Jasminka replied.  She rolled up the map and tucked it back into her belt as she lifted her eyes and scanned the horizon.  There was nothing, save for a few vespoids that buzzed around their heads in the most annoying song Akko had ever heard, and the ripple of heat waves above the dry sand.

In all honesty, she wondered how the smaller monsters even managed to live in such a cruel, unforgiving environment.  Hell, what did they even eat? Herbs were scarce, the reeds seemed dry and completely lacking nutrition, and the water seemed disgusting at best.  They’d passed by the outer edges of a swamp and, for a second, Akko had though to stop and refill her half-empty canteen. She’d even uncorked it and leaned down until she saw the larvae that danced just beneath the surface, the mud that kicked up when a Gajau darted away, and the foul odor that emanated off the surface.

Even Jiji wouldn’t drink it.  Her tongue was halfway out of her mouth before her whiskers flattened against her cheeks and she backed away, appalled.

But as they rounded a bend, Akko suddenly realized that it  _ was  _ possible for life to thrive in the Waste.  A plateau opened before them, dry grass sprouting sporadically in the shade of towering canyon walls and around large boulders from long-ago rockslides.  Kestodon dotted the makeshift field, grazing contentedly on the lush vegetation that seemed out of place in the harsh, desert-like terrain of the Waste.

“Whoa,” Akko said, coming to a stop as she watched the small monsters lumber around.  Content chirps and grunts echoed through the herd as they moved slowly, as though time mattered little and no harm would come.

Except harm would come.  It came in the form of six girls and four palicoes, who stood just beyond the bend with weapons at the ready, with the cold steel of death clutched in their hands.

Jiji perked up with a rolling mew, hopping up onto a nearby rock and sitting delicately as she examined the life meandering peacefully before them.  Her ears flicked back and forth, tail twitching in anxious excitement.

“Alright,” Jasminka said, drawing the massive hammer from her back as she flexed her biceps and stepped forward.  “Let’s get this done and get back to camp before Hanbridge starts to think we couldn’t handle it.”

“Wait.”

Avery’s arm flew out, stopping the larger girl from moving forward.  She took a step back, silently urging the team to follow suit with the tilt of her head.

“What--” Akko started, but quickly quieted when the reason became apparent.

A giant monster came lumbering from another path through the canyon.  Its massive body seemed made entirely of rocks and Akko could barely make out the tiny, beady eyes that nestled beneath two large scales.  From its head rose what looked like a boulder, cresting up to a flat, arched top. Its tail dragged the ground, leaving a trail in the sand, a pattern between the massive footprints that framed the sides.

“Barroth,” Hannah said.  “Don’t move.”

The team shrank a little farther into the shadows, palicoes gathering tight behind them in an attempt to not be seen.  But, as Akko watched, her eyes narrowed in thought.

“Why don’t we just kill it?” she mused in a whisper, hand falling on the hilt of her daggers.  “It’s a monster. And we kill monsters, right? It’d prove so much if we came back with a dead Barroth.”

“No,” Avery said, her voice flat.  There was no contest. “More like the A-Listers would be dragging back dead Hunters.  Our mission isn’t to kill a Barroth, it’s to kill Kestodon.”

The Barroth paused, raising its snout to the sky as it took long drags of air.  For a moment, it turned towards them, as though sensing them there. But, instead of stepping in their direction, it merely swung its massive body in a 180 and began the descent down the path on which it came.

Akko sighed with disappointment.  She wanted nothing more than to prove herself, to show that she was much more capable than killing Kestodon for stew or whatever.  That she was much more than the Commission thought of her, that she was somebody that could be  _ great _ .

But putting her teammates in danger would be the wrong move to make, and so she waited with the others until the great Barroth was out of sight and its rumbling footsteps had faded to silence.

“Alright,” Avery said at last, stepping from the shadows and turning to face the team with a resolute nod.  “Let’s get to work. One Kestodon each. England, Parker, stay with the cart.”

As they moved forward, the Kestodon glanced up but made no effort to run or even to walk away.  They rose on their hind legs, massive heads tilting to the side as they watched the Hunters approach.

“Whoa,” Jasminka called from where she had strayed over to a larger Kestodon male.  “They’re not even afraid of us.”

Akko’s gaze fell on a smaller female, who cocked her head back and forth as she approached.  She was cute, really. Her wide horn seemed almost too big for her head and Akko wondered how it didn’t weigh her down.  Tiny arms curved inward, one moving to scratch at the outer edge of her chest as she observed.

They really weren’t scared.

Akko slowed, her hand falling from the hilt of her dagger as she neared.  The Kestodon chirped, tilting its nose to the sky and lowering its neck as its tail flagged up and to the side.  Jiji, unconvinced of the docile nature of the creatures, lingered a few feet behind. Her paws were slow and careful against the sand, body flattened in a half-stalk.

“Hi, there,” Akko heard herself say as she came within a few feet of the monster.  While small, it still towered a head above her. Its black eyes fell on her, third eyelids flashing in a quick blink.

She’d expected  _ some  _ kind of fight.  Or, at the very least, a chase.  But these Kestodon didn’t fear them.  In fact, they  _ invited  _ them.  The monster before her sent hot air bursting from its nostrils as it shoved its head forward, sucking in the scent of the sweaty Hunter and the dirty palico below.

“They’re nice,” Akko commented, stretching a hand forward and letting the Kestodon stick her muzzle into it.  She giggled at the tickling breath and moved in closer, letting the flat of her hand fall to the soft scales of the monster’s neck in a gentle pat.  “I didn’t expect them to be nice.”

“Nice or not,” Avery replied, “We have to kill them.  It’s our mission.”

“Right,” Akko said.  She drew a blade from the sheath at her side, nodding to herself as she lifted the steel to the Kestodon’s neck.  The creature made no move to run and instead leaned in closer, mouth parting as a long, wet tongue slapped across Akko’s face.  Akko could feel the chunks of unchewed grass dripping from her jaw and, laughing, let her hand drop as she fell back a step.

Jiji paused, rising to her full height.  Her tail rose and flicked happily as she moved in, cheek butting the side of the Kestodon’s leg as she rubbed up against her.  The leather of her tiny armor scraped against scales, but the Kestodon didn’t seem to mind. It leaned down and nudged the small black palico, snorting an approval.

“Right,” Akko said again, bringing the dagger up once more.  “Sorry, but you’re dinner.”

The Kestodon cocked its head to the side, wide eyes meeting Akko’s red in a soft, friendly glimmer.  It seemed oblivious to the cold dagger pressing against its scales, to the imminent danger that stood before her, to the girl who brought nothing but death.

“I--” Akko’s eyebrows scrunched together.  She made a move to press the dagger in, to sink the blade into the soft flesh of her prey, but her muscles seemed frozen.  “I don’t know if I can kill this thing. It’s sweet.”

“Kill it,” Avery commanded.  “Kill your targets on 3, 2--”

Squeals of pain and terror filled the air around them as the three other Hunters struck: Avery with her blades piercing the sides of her Kestodon’s neck, Jasminka with her massive hammer falling against her own Kestodon and breaking its neck in one fell swoop and a sickening crack, the relentless torrent of bullets as Constanze took aim and pulled the trigger.

The three Kestodon fell.  All dead but Constanze’s, who was squirming on the ground and bleating in fear.  The smaller girl stepped forward, pressed her bowgun to the side of the Kestodon’s head, and pulled the trigger once more.

The bleating ceased.

Yet Akko had not moved.

Neither had her Kestodon.

Their eyes stayed locked, both bright with fear, with confusion.  Her dagger still pressed to the Kestodon’s neck, a tiny drip of blood falling from where the blade dug beneath the thick hide and into the skin.

She couldn’t.

She couldn’t do it.

Akko took a deep breath and stepped back, her hand falling limp at her side, her dagger dangling uselessly in her loose grip as she fumbled to sheathe it.

“I can’t do it,” she blurted.  “I won’t.”

“Damn you, Kagari,” Avery hissed.  Leather boots were as loud as the stampede of the remaining Kestodon herd as they escaped through the canyon, dust and sand erupting in their wake.  The girl strode over, her purple eyes flashing with fury as she roughly shoved Akko aside. Before Akko could even move, Avery was spinning, her body a blur as a single dagger rose and slashed across the bottom of the stunned Kestodon’s neck.  Blood spurted over the sand, spraying in an arc across Avery’s cuirass as the Kestodon let out a weak, pained cry before collapsing completely.

Avery whirled on her, bloody daggers sliding back into the sheaths at her belt, spittle spraying from the taller girl’s lips as she spat, her voice laced with disappointment, with hatred: “Learn to hunt, Kagari, or I’ll make sure you find your way out of the Commission faster than that.”

Avery stalked off.

Akko watched, wide-eyed, Jiji cowering between her legs, as the thirsty sand of the Waste drank the blood of the hunt.  At the small Kestodon, once so alive and peaceful in its easy life, breathing no more. She could still feel the drool and spittle of the kind Kestodon still wet against her cheek and she lifted a hand to gently touch the last remnants of life, of a being who trusted someone she could not trust.

The black eyes stared back at her still, but life was no longer there.

There was nothing.

Only death.

* * *

“Damn, this is good,” Amanda said as she cut off a large hunk of Kestodon steak and shoveled it into her mouth.  “You guys really know how to hunt a good meal.”

“Just don’t upchuck it later,” Wangari added, choking on her own laughter.

Akko folded her arms over her chest, staring down at her own healthy serving of Kestodon.  It was cooked rare, the blood leaking slowly into the thick pile of garlic mashed potatoes that had been lumped to the side.  Her mouth watered, but not from hunger. She felt nauseous. She wanted to crawl back to the latrine and vomit for the third time that day, to cry into the bowl as she thought of how she had been made to haul the Kestodon’s carcass to the cart, to pick up and toss its limp body onto the others where its legs fell askew and its black eyes stared back, cold and lifeless.

Everybody else was eating.  Merrily laughing with the success of their day, clinking massive pitchers of ale and chugging between large bites of meat.  The lanterns above them swayed with an incoming breeze that was refreshing and cool against their skin. Clouds floated in from the north, covering the expanse of sky and bright, twinkling stars.

But Akko could not find it in herself to be happy.

Not only had she failed in the one thing that she had been meant to do, the reality of her job had hit her full force on the long trek back to Luna Nova with the slow moving cart and the huffing and grunts of her tired, sweat-drenched teammates.  She had always pictured monster hunting as an art, a skill, a beauty. The pictures she’d seen of Commander Chariot were inspiring: a lean and athletic girl twisting through the air as she struck an Elder Dragon dead where it stood.

_ JOIN THE COMMISSION,  _ the poster had read.   _ FIND YOUR GLORY. _

But there was no glory in hunting.

There was no beauty.

She could still taste the metallic bite of blood in her mouth, could still see the meat of exposed flesh from beneath the deep wound that Avery had inflicted in the Kestodon’s neck.  She could hear the cries of pain, of fear. The hushed whimpers of sudden mortality.

The picture of death was not art.  The picture of death was unabashedly cruel, was merciless and bloody and altogether horrid.  It was abstract and misunderstood, and Akko stood before it and felt sick.

Akko wanted nothing to do with it.

And, yet, this was the life she chose.

And so she had to.

She looked up, feeling the shadow of her day passing across her face as she searched the gleeful faces of the other Hunters.  Everybody seemed happy, seemed pleased, seemed proud. Even though the A-Listers hadn’t captured the Great Jagras as instructed--it had been killed, apparently--everyone was newly invigorated by their ventures beyond the walls of Luna Nova.  By their first duties as Hunters of the Commission.

The only one who looked equally morose was Cavendish.

She, too, had not touched her Kestodon.  She stared down at her full plate, her arms disappearing below the table as she hunched her shoulders in a posture that was much unlike what Akko was used to.  Her eyes looked swollen, though Akko was unsure if it was from the heat or exhaustion. Blonde hair waved fell around her sun-kissed face, still damp from a fresh washing.

As Akko stared, Cavendish glanced up.  Her gaze fell to Akko’s untouched food, to the Kestodon that was growing cold with each passing second, before travelling up to find Akko’s stare with eyes just as hollow as her own.

A moment passed between them, short but long at the same time, as they peered at each other.  Both with a mind full of twisting and writhing thoughts, both fighting the rattling wail of failure, both haunted by the grim ghost of death.

Until Cavendish stood, her stool barely a whisper against the packed earth of the canteen floor as she pushed it back, and walked away without a word, without a breath of a goodbye, without a second glance.

Nobody noticed.

But Akko did.  Her eyes stayed locked on the other Hunter as she disappeared down the winding wooden stairs to the barracks.  Until the last thing she could see was the fleeting glimpse of pale blonde hair beneath a moon that disappeared, moments later, behind the wall of a great cloud.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Welcome to my new fic. I'm particularly excited about this (I feel like I say that about all of them, but it's true) because I very much love Monster Hunter and I think it'll be fun to write along with the LWA characters.
> 
> I plan for this to be a very long fic. Shocker, I know. Updates will be once per week as opposed to how often I usually post with others, because I'd like for the chapters to be longer and for this to go on for a while. I'm also actually ~planning~ this plot and outlining things to avoid frustration on my own part and hopefully deliver something that's quality.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy. If you notice any mistakes, _please_ don't hesitate to point them out! I don't catch everything.
> 
> \- spectral <3
> 
> As a P.S., I'd also like to throw out a big credit to the discord server for giving me the idea to write this fic.


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